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LA SALLE 



Valley of the St. Joseph, 



AN HISTORICAL FRAGMENT. 



Charles H. Bartlett, 

President Northern Indiana Historical Society, 
and 

Richard H. Lyon, 

Associate Editor Soitth Bend Tribune. 



Tribune Printing Company, 

South Bend, Ind. 

1899. 



SEC ) 3 
1869. 




40808 



COPYRIGHT 

BY THE TRIBUNE PRINTING DO. 

1899. 

TWG0OPte& KECfclv. 






191898 



%ferc' 












Descriptive. 

When the plans for the construction of the 
St. Joseph County, Indiana, court house, built 
in the city of South Bend in 1897-98, were com- 
pleted, it was found that no provision had been 
made for the decoration of two large lunettes 
under the big dome, and over the entrances to 
the court rooms, on the second floor rotunda. 
It was suggested by the authors of this " Frag- 
ment" that these spaces, each sixteen feet by 
eight feet in size, be utilized to commemorate 
events connected with the county's early his- 
tory, and the suggestion met the hearty approv- 
al of the County Commissioners, who included 
in the contract for the decoration of the interior 
•of the building, the painting of two historical 
scenes, the details of which were to be fur- 
nished the artists by the writers hereof. 

The two most important events connected 
with the life of the intrepid French explorer, 
LaSalle, in his visits to this region 220 years 
ago, were selected, and from this beginning 
have developed the magnificent paintings, 
•"LaSalle at the Portage, December 5, 1679," 



and " LaSalle at the Miami Treaty, May, 1681." 
A half-tone reproduction of the first named 
forms the frontispiece of this work and one of 
the latter the center-piece. 

The time of the former is about sunset at the 
old portage landing", two miles below the city 
of South Bend, on the St. Joseph river, and 
shows the reunion of the explorer's party after 
LaSalle's return from nearly two clays' wander- 
ing in the wilderness hereabouts. The central 
figures are LaSalle, his devoted lieutenant, 
Tonty, Father Hennepin, the Franciscan Friar, 
and the sturdy Mohican hunter. 

In the second picture, LaSalle is represented 
at his famous treaty with the Miami Indians on 
Portage Prairie, two miles west of South Bend, 
the explorer and the head chief of the tribe in 
the foreground, both in the court dress appropri- 
ate for state occasions of this kind. The time 
of the day is about 10 o'clock in the forenoon. 

The gathering of the details for these paint- 
ings has been an interesting though laborious 
and not a little expensive task. The best of 
authorities of ancient and modern times have 
been consulted, and the form, features and cos- 
tuming of all the figures represented may be 
relied upon as historically correct, while the 
grouping and coloring displays the genius of the 
true artist. The paintings were executed in the 
studio of H. F. Huber & Co., New York, by Mr. 



Arthur Thomas, an artist who has made histor- 
ical subjects a life study, and who has given 
his best skill to these works. The paintings 
meet the full approval of the architects of the 
court house, Messrs. Shepley, Rutan & Cool- 
idge, of Boston, Mass.; of the Board of. County 
Commissioners, Messrs. Samuel Bowman, Peter 
H. Reaves and John D. Fulmer, and their legal 
adviser, Hon. A. L. Brick; of the Advisory 
Committee, Messrs. Clem Studebaker, J. D. 
Oliver, Elmer Crockett, P. O'Brien and J. B. 
Stoll; of the Northern Indiana Historical Soci- 
ety, and of all who have been privileged to look 
upon them. The story that inspired them, 
"LaSalle in the Valley of the St. Joseph," is 
fully told in the succeeding pages of this 
volume. 

C. H. B. 

R. H. L. 



South Bend, Ind., 
June, 1899. 




PHOTO BY W. B. STOVER. 

IN LA SALLE PARK. 



Preface. 

In the light of present knowledge, it is not 
possible to assert beyond all danger of cavil 
whether this or that particular Canadian French- 
man first beheld the banks of the St. Joseph. 
Some have thought that Father Claude Allouez, 
a Jesuit priest and missionary, first knew of our 
river. Some have supposed that Father Mar- 
quette once journeyed this way. But that either 
of them was entitled to the honor of discovery, 
is purely a matter of conjecture. It does, 
indeed, seem not unlikely that Allouez, who 
was with the Miami Indians in 1672, should 
have followed them from their Wisconsin home 
when they migrated to this valley. He was 
certainly here at a later date, devoting the clos- 
ing years of his life to the work of the mission 
on the St. Joseph, where he died in 1690. But 
in the case of Father Marquette, there is not 
even good ground for conjecture, unless it be in 
the wish which we all share that the benison of 
a presence so gentle and gracious might have 
expressed the white man's first salutation to 
the bluffs and pebbly strands of our river. 
Then, there are the two adventurers, Radisson 



and Des Groseilliers, who explicitly declare 
that they themselves visited this entire region 
as early as 1659. This statement, however, is 
not generally believed by the historians. Some 
of the latter are probably not far from the truth 
in their intimation that many of the obscure 
Canadian voyageurs, in pursuit of the traffic in 
furs, and the wild coureurs de bois, while living 
with the Indians, may have been here before 
all others without leaving any record of their 
exploits. But if we are to satisfy ourselves with 
the positive assertions of unquestioned history, 
we must credit the discovery of the St. Joseph 
and the Kankakee rivers to the hero famous in 
American annals under the name of LaSalle. 
His coming was late in the fall of 1679. A 
brief epitome of his career previous to that date 
may help us to keep in mind the motives that 
prompted his expedition and the circumstances 
that made it possible. 



LA SALLE, THE EXPLORER. 




LA SALLE AT 22. 



LaSalle, the Explorer. 



A fair and famous 
city in the north of 
France gave LaSalle 
to the world. Rouen, 
on the picturesque 
Seine, not far from 
the sea, was noted in 
ancient times as Nor- 
mandy's capital. In 
the sacristy of one of 
her old cathedrals is 
preserved the heart 
of Richard Cceur de 
Lion, and in her pub- 
lic market place, 
many centuries ago, Joan of Arc met death at 
the stake. Modern Rouen is known as the 
leading city of France in industrial enter- 
prises. 

LaSalle, born in 1643, was a child of luxury. 
His father, Jean Cavelier, a rich merchant and 
land owner, belonged to an old, influential and 

11 




aristocratic family, but one degree below the 
French nobility. The son was christened 
Robert Cavelier Sieur de LaSalle, the final 
name given him in honor of a big landed estate 
of the family, in accordance with a custom 
among the wealthy French burghers. 

The boy early displayed intellectual gifts of 
a high order and he was given a first-class edu- 
cation. He was reserved, dignified, studious, 
and he improved his opportunities to the 
utmost. It is told that he was especially pro- 
ficient in mathematics and in the exact sciences. 
While he was a mild-mannered youth, he early 
exhibited the traits of determination and inde- 
pendence characteristic of his later years. In 
the face of losing his inheritance to his father's 
rich estate, he joined the order of the Jesuits to 
become a priest; but when he discovered that 
his temperament was not at all conducive to 
that calling, he left the order. Yet he was 
always considered a good Catholic. 

It was in the spring of 1666, that LaSalle, 
just arrived from France, presented hinVself at 
the door of the Canadian Seminary of St. Sul- 
pice, in the compact little village which has 
since become the city of Montreal. This young 
man was fortunate enough to obtain what he 
sought from the priests of St. Sulpice, the gra- 
tuitous grant of a large tract of their wild land. 
The erant bordered on the St. Lawrence and 



was situated at a point up the river, some nine 
miles from the Seminary settlement. LaSalle 
began at once to clear the land, to mark the 
metes and bounds for a village and to erect for 
himself a house and storage buildings; for, he 
meant to engage in the fur trade, and to use 
this estate as a base of supplies and a point of 
vantage from which he might take part in the 
exploration of the vast interior of our continent. 
He had come here with such purposes fixed in 
his mind. His ambition had caught fire from 
the vague rumors and startling theories which 
at that time supplied the French public with 
much entertainment and excited the liveliest 
interest in their new-world possessions The 
Indians had told the Canadians of the Missis- 
sippi, and the latter had assured the people at 
home, that the great river surely flowed into 
the Pacific ocean; and the people at home had 
developed strong hopes that the Mississippi 
might prove to be a practical highway over 
which France would sustain commercial inter- 
course with China. LaSalle could have a part 
in the enterprise which such a prospect seemed 
to invite. Applying himself at once to the 
study of the Indian languages, he was soon 
ready to begin his explorations. The latter 
were conducted first through the country at the 
north. Finding this of little interest, he turned 
to the south and is believed to have been the first 



white man on the Ohio and to have followed the 
course of this river as far as the site of Louisville. 
The endurance of supreme hardships and the 
survival of great dangers emboldened LaSalle 
to set up a new establishment still deeper in 
the wilderness. He desired the command of 
Fort Frontenac, then being built by the gov- 
ernor at the very head of the St. Lawrence, and 
on the north shore of Lake Ontario To secure 
such a prize, one so necessary to his plans, he 
went to France. He was well received at court 
and the idea of his projected enterprises proved 
so captivating to the king that the latter gave 
him the seigniory of Fort Frontenac, with the* 
military command of the place, and bestowed 
on him patents authorizing his trade with the 
Indians and the exploration of the lakes and 
the western country. He was willing to bear 
the expense of these explorations, trusting to 
the fur trade for reimbursement. His plans 
required even a second trip to France. And 
this time he secured a monopoly of the trade 
in buffalo hides and the authority to build new 
forts in the western country which he should 
explore. He now borrowed large sums of 
money, which his favor at court enabled him to 
do. He purchased and brought back with him 
supplies for the building and equipment of two 
ships, one to sail the upper lakes and one for 
the waters tributary to the Mississippi. 

14 



ON THE LAKES. 



On the Lakes. 

And so, we find LaSalle, in the winter and 
spring" of 1679, at the mouth of a creek that 
empties into Niagara river some miles above 
the falls. The materials for the two ships had 
been dragged up the heights that line the river 
and carried a distance of more than 12 miles, 
where a suitable place for ship building had 
been found. Here the keel of the "Griffin" was 
laid, a vessel of forty-five tons burden. The 
work all done and the equipment completed, it 
was August before the vessel was drawn up 
into Lake Erie. The building of the ship was 
a matter of intense interest to the Indians, who 
thronged the banks where the hull was finally 
launched and who were consumed with wonder 
down to the moment when the rejoicing crew, 
having spread the great sails, boomed their five 
little cannon, sang their Te Deum, sped away 
with a free furrow and held their course through 
the very midst of the inland sea. 

To the mouth of Detroit river came the little 
ship and in due time Huron's beautiful expanse 
received the adventurous band. But Lake 
Huron was not in a mood to submit tamely to 

17 



the white man's conquest of these ancient 
solitudes. A fierce squall arose. The pilot 
swore and the others prayed to the saints, and 
through their mutual endeavors, the frail bark 
outrode the storm. They reached the Straits 
of Mackinac in safety and made fast their 
anchor at Point St. Ignace, where Father Mar- 
quette's mission house then stood. The priests 
and their Indians came down to the shore with 
words of welcome and tenders of hospitality. 
It was a state occasion with LaSalle. Clad in 
a court costume of scarlet, all gorgeous with 
gold lace — this for the benefit of the Indians — 
he, with his little group of followers, issued 
forth from their "floating fort." While the 
surrounding woods echoed with the discharge 
of their musketry, they unfolded to the gaze of 
the simple natives the banner of France with 
the arms of Louis XIV. These functions dis- 
charged, they went up the rising ground with 
the priests to the chapel and knelt before the 
altar. 

Long before this voyage of the "Griffin," 
LaSalle had sent his agents to this locality to 
gather furs through the surrounding country. 
He now learned that a few of them who had 
remained true to his interests were at Green 
Bay, where a valuable cargo awaited the coming 
of the ship. The "Griffin" was accordingly 
sent forward to gather these first fruits of their 



enterprise, while LaSalle, with fourteen men, 
embarked in canoes and followed the vessel. 
Tonty, with another division of the party, was 
to keep to the east coast of Lake Michigan. 
The "Griffin," laden with the furs, was ordered 
back to the head of Lake Erie with the strict 
injunction that its precious cargo should be 
conveyed to the block-house, at the mouth of 
Niagara river, and that a return as speedy as 
possible should then be made to the southern 
extremity of Lake Michigan. LaSalle and his 
men set out with their canoes and followed the 
west coast of the lake past the mouth of Chicago 
river and around the southern coast. It was a 
most tempestuous voyage, as one on Lake 
Michigan at that season of the year is apt to be. 
It might seem that our hero had thus far 
found an easy and smooth path. But the truth 
was otherwise. Indeed, he was one of those 
unfortunate mortals who find their advance 
contested at every step. His success excited 
the jealousy of powerful rivals, since it seemed 
to threaten the prosperity of their own cause. 
The Jesuits had entered this western world and 
desired to remain the sole masters of its destiny. 
LaSalle was partial to other orders, the Recol- 
lects, the Sulpitians, the Franciscans. And 
then, too, he was a fur trader, although very 
different from most of his class. This class was 
one which exerted a most baneful influence at 

19 



the missions, almost wholly subverting the work 
of the church. Where the seed of faith had 
been planted through the long and painful 
labors of the devoted missionary, it was dis- 
tressing in the last degree, if not exasperating, 
to see the first tender leaf of the savages' new 
aspiration torn and uprooted through the gross 
immorality of the fur trader and his lewd and 
sottish companions. The Jesuits deemed it 
highly necessary that the whole tribe of fur 
traders should be excluded from the wilder- 
ness. Nor would they consent that the case of 
LaSalle was exceptional, although they well 
knew that his life was in every way commend- 
able, that he was a devout christian and that he 
sincerely desired their prosperity. It was 
plainly their hope that not only the faith and 
the morals of the woods should be left to them, 
but that the secular interests, as well, should 
never escape their supervision and control. 
They opposed LaSalle at Fort Frontenac, com- 
plaining to the Governor with the severest 
aspersions against LaSalle's life and character. 
They declared that his motives were purely 
selfish and mercenary, that his methods were 
dishonest and his daily life extremely vile. 
The first charge fell to the ground, for every- 
body on the St. Lawrence knew that this man 
at all times, in his poverty and in his days of 
triumph, was forever thinking and talking of 



those things that would help the work of the 
church, increase the prosperity of Canada and 
redound to the glory of France. As for his 
trade with the Indians, the latter loved him as 
a true man, and all that he did was justified by 
his patents from the crown. And as for his 
morals, a very prompt and unexpected investi- 
gation established his character as that of a 
man whose conversation and conduct made 
him a model of propriety. 

But calumnies, often repeated, will in time 
warp the popular judgment. These things 
made enemies for LaSalle, enemies who rose 
up in unexpected places to thwart his best laid 
plans. Nor did these evil rumors fail to reach 
the court in France and to arouse suspicion and 
prejudice there, creating conditions very hurt- 
ful to the cause of this upright man. And then 
there is ample evidence that the Jesuits sent 
men to engage in the service of LaSalle for the 
purpose of stirring up discord among his 
attaches and encouraging desertions at critical 
times. Nor was this enough. The Indians 
themselves were tampered with and, in several 
of the tribes, were made to believe that LaSalle 
was the secret ally of their enemies; that he 
was thus a man to be summarily dealt with. 
Surrounded by such malicious foes, it is not 
surprising that LaSalle was soon complained of 
as a silent man, one who kept and followed his 

21 



own counsels. And this leader of men had 
still other enemies. The traders who lived at 
Montreal thought that LaSalle would buy up 
all the furs in the western country and ruin 
their business. They made their attack upon 
him as venomous as possible and were so suc- 
cessful in carrying out their plans as to seri- 
ously impair his credit. But the utmost endeav- 
ors of his enemies could not restrain this deter- 
mined spirit. Strong in conscious rectitude, he 
quite overcame them all. While the silly con- 
tentions with which he was continually har- 
rassed were indeed unfortunate, yet they never 
abated his noble energy; nor did they in any 
degree dim the virtues that marked LaSalle as 
the best specimen of manhood that France ever 
sent to the St. Lawrence. 



22 




H -B, 



ON THE ST. JOSEPH. 




PHOTO BY W. B. STOVER. 

BELOW THE PORTAGE. 



On the St. Joseph. 

And so, one may say that it was by no means 
an easy path over which he had come, when 
LaSalle, at length found the harbor at the 
mouth of the St. Joseph. 

In the picturesque highlands of southern 
Michigan, not far from the city of Hillsdale, 
two rivers of the same name have a common 
source. One courses southward into Ohio, then 
threads off into Indiana and mingles its waters 
with the River Maumee at Fort Wayne. It is 
known as the Little St. Joseph, or the St. Joseph 
of the Maumee. The other, which is the outlet 
of a lovely lake, the Baw Beese, flows north- 
westward a considerable distance, then makes 
an abrupt turn southwesterly, dipping down 
into Indiana, entering the state near the village 
of Bristol, Elkhart County. Thence its course 
is westerly until the city of South Bend is 
reached, when a graceful and lengthening curve 
is made in the stream towards the north, and 
in that direction it runs rapidly on to the great 
lake, forty miles away. This is the big St. 
Joseph, or the St. Joseph of the Lakes. 

In the Michigan uplands, where these two 

25 



rivers rise, which form the dividing ridge or water 
shed between the two great lakes, Erie and 
Michigan, other large streams find a source, 
also. One, the Kalamazoo, rushes northwest- 
erly, and another, the River Raisin, takes an 
eastward course. Yet, of all these pretty rivers 
whose fountain-head is in the same locality, 
none have waters quite so clear, there are none 
with channel so broad and deep, with current 
so swift, with windings so graceful; none whose 
valleys are so fair and fertile, whose banks are 
so high and picturesque, or about whose willow- 
fringed shores cling legends so romantic and 
cluster memories so historic as the St. Joseph 
of the Lakes; our own beautiful St. Joe, the 
explorer's River of the Miamis, the Sauwk 
Wauwk Sil Buck of the Pottawatomies. This 
river's fame is known the continent, over. Her 
beauty is preserved in picture, and her glory 
told in song. Such were the scenes that wel- 
comed our hero. 

His arrival was on the first of November, 
1679, an d tne season of the year, perhaps, con- 
tributed something to the melancholy doubts 
that now began to weigh heavily on the spirits 
of the party. Tonty had been delayed while 
hunting up deserters. So they busied them- 
selves in the building of a very necessary fort, 
and awaited his arrival. The king had instructed 
LaSalle to build as many forts as he deemed 

26 



expedient. He located one here as an asylum 
for his men, in case hostilities in the southern 
country should compel a retreat. This was 
LaSalle's Fort Miami, and our river he called 
the River of the Miamis, because that tribe then 
claimed our valley as their own. His men next 
sounded the depths of the harbor and stationed 
buoys marking the channel. And it is said that 
they planted two high poles where the waters 
of the river meet those of the lake, and fastened 
bear skins to the tops of these poles. This was 
for the purpose of attracting the attention of 
the pilot, when the " Griffin " should arrive. 
After a long delay, they were joined by Tonty 
and his men, but the little ship never found its 
way into the mouth of our river. It is believed 
to have been wrecked near Beaver Island, in 
Lake Michigan. The rich cargo was a total loss 
and all on board went down with the ship. The 
party at the St Joseph lingered through the 
month of November, hoping that some word 
might come from the ill-fated bark, and then 
sadly set out with eight canoes on their journey 
up the river. They must find the portage path 
that will lead them to those springs whose 
waters had found a way to the great Mississippi. 
For sixty-five miles and more they will urge the 
boats against a swift and heavy current. Poles 
and paddles and leading ropes will lay a severe 
tax on their energies, before they may quit the 

27 



scenes of the St. Joseph. Those familiar with 
our river during the summer months, may feel 
some surprise to note how black and angry its 
heavy current becomes underthe leaden sky of 
winter, and when the first severe blasts from the 
north have fringed its banks with ice and snow. 
The sunniest spot on the highest bluff will then 
be cheerless enough. This valley is no fairy 
land in December. And it is not strange that 
in the explorer's party certain murmurs and 
mutterings of discontent should now be heard. 
And who were these adventurous souls toiling 
up the rugged channel of the St. Joseph in spite 
of doubts and fears? First, there was the 
invincible LaSalle, the leader of the expedition, 
with his faithful friend, Henri Tonty, the second 
in command. The latter was the son of a noted 
financier, the author of the Tontine system of 
life insurance. LaSalle was a devout Christian, 
and so, we are not surprised that his party 
should have included three Recollect friars. Of 
these, the venerable Father Gabriel Ribourde, 
now 64 years of age, was destined in a few days 
to perish at the hands of the savages, and to 
add his name to the long list of those martyrs 
whose apostolic zeal was the transcendant glory 
of France in America. With him was Zenobe 
Membre, who was to labor as a devout mis- 
sionary of the Cross among the Illinois, and 
then to follow the fortunes of LaSalle to the 



last bitter end, when the wretched remnant of 
the colony gathering around their devoted 
priest, perished in the wilds of Texas. The 
third member of this religious order was Louis 
Hennepin, one whose cowl and gown could 
scarcely disguise the man of the world. And 
there were John Boisrondet and L'Esperience 
de la Brie, of whom the former was reputed to 
have been the private secretary and accountant 
of LaSalle, and the latter a body servant; though 
LaSalle himself says that he never had an 
accountant, nor a servant of any kind, while in 
the wilderness. Jean Russell was one of this 
band. He and LaSalle had formerly been 
partners in the fur trade on the St. Lawrence. 
Moyse Hillaret was the master ship-builder, 
with Noel le Blanc and Jean le Mire as ship 
carpenters. John le Milleur was the nail maker. 
His companions had nicknamed him "The 
Forge." There were also two pit-sawyers, whose 
duty it would be to work out the planks for the 
new ship on the Illinois. The others, with one 
exception, were soldiers, boatmen and advent- 
urers who had attached themselves to the enter- 
prise for the sake of the excitement in store for 
those who should penetrate the secrets of the 
vast and mysterious west. The exception was 
White Beaver, the Mohican hunter, who stood 
head and shoulders above three-fourths of this 
motley crew, above them morally as well as 



physically. For, this son of the forest was the 
ideal of devotion and, next to Tonty, the most 
valuable, as well as the most reliable, support 
that LaSalle's cause had been able to find in all 
the high-ways and by-ways of New France- 
When all but a very few of those engaged in 
this expedition had deserted their valiant 
leader, and in some cases had stolen his posses- 
sions, White Beaver stood faithful and true. 
Those who have loved to follow, with Cooper, 
the fortunes of Natty Bumpo and the Great 
Serpent and Uncas, and who have marvelled at 
the traits of character with which fiction has 
endowed the "Last of the Mohicans," * may find 
in White Beaver an actual personage who was, 
in truth, one of the last of the Mohicans. Here 
is a red man whose figure in history is the living 
counterpart of those creatures of the imagina- 
tion whose personalities are so wonderfully 
portrayed by the renowned novelist. It was 
the ever-faithful White Beaver whose skill sup- 

* When our ancestors drove the Mohicans out of Rhode 
Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the tribe fled for safety far 
from the face of the white man. LaSalle found a part of them on 
the little island tracts of the vast marhes of the Kankakee. Em- 
bowered here in the alders and luxuriant growths of reeds and 
grasses, they found a snug retreat, safe from foes both red and white. 
They could follow the chase on the main land, but the canoes by 
which they came and went left no tell tale trace behind. The late 
Mr. Albert Birner, while a student in the South Bend High School, 
investigated some of these island tracts in search of evidences of 
occupancy by the Mohicans. He found numerous fire-places with 
flint chips and arrow points and the usual remains that mark the 
home of the Indian. These things he properly regarded as a part of 
the sequel to the New England record of this interesting tribe. 

30 



plied their larder with the products of the chase. 
He was their guide through the wilderness 
and their guard against lurking dangers; for, his 
eye alone could detect the "fearful Indian signs," 
and his judgment supply the timely warning. 
There was a strong bond of affection between 
LaSalle and White Beaver, alike worthy of each. 
When these hardy forerunners of civilization 
had reached the spot where the portage path 
was to be found, they did not recognize the 
place, because the ground was covered with 
snow. White Beaver, the guide, was not with 
them at the time, having left the canoes for the 
purpose of hunting. Their failure to discover 
the landing proved a grave misfortune, for it was 
attended by a series of ills that contributed not 
a little to the weight of fear and gloom to which 
the braver hearts among them now seemed 
ready to succumb. The landing where they 
should have drawn up their canoes to take the 
portage path, is located on the north side of 
the pronounced bend, or loop, in the river, situ- 
ated in Section 27, German Township. We do not 
know how far they ascended the river beyond 
this point before their mistake was discovered. 
It is fair to presume, however, that they could 
not have continued for any great distance above 
the spot known as the south bend of the river; 
for they must soon have discovered that beyond 
this place the trend of the river-bed led away 



from the region of the Kankakee. They landed 
and prepared to search for the portage. LaSalle, 
in his eagerness to find the path, set forth alone 
and unarmed. And here the unexpected hap- 
pened. He was soon lost. We say the unex- 
pected, for it would appear very strange that a 
man with LaSalle's thirteen years of experience 
in woodcraft should lose his bearings. But the 
situation was one which might easily confuse 
any explorer. He was on the spot where the 
very tip end of the Kankakee valley merges 
into that of the St. Joseph. Over this spot the 
water of the latter river once ran, when, in 
ancient geological times, the portion of our 
river above the south bend was a continuation 
of the valley of the Kankakee. LaSalle was 
looking for a ridge which should divide the two 
river valleys, and this was the particular spot 
where no sign of such a ridge was easily found. 
He doubtless supposed that the hills to the 
south of the present road between South Bend 
and Mishawaka, formed that ridge and strove 
to reach their summit. In doing so, he was 
compelled to pick his way through the long, 
swampy tract lying between these hills and the 
St. Joseph. The view from the highland showed 
him the great Kankakee marsh on the west. 
But in his return to his companions, he missed 
the devious path by which he had come, and 
tried to go around this marshy tract extending 

32 



for several miles to the east. Tonty says that 
" he had to make the detour." In so doing, he 
must have gone east nearly as far as the present 
site of the village of Osceola. Here he came 
again to the banks of the St. Joseph. 

Night had overtaken him in his wanderings, 
and he was hastening forward, with thoughts 
inspired by weariness, hunger and the alarm 
which he knew his friends had felt from his 
prolonged absence. A light twinkled through 
the undergrowth and he supposed he had found 
the encampment. He rushed forward with a 
great shout. A solitary form rose hastily from 
the side of the fire and darted away through the 
forest. LaSalle called loudly again and again, 
in his most reassuring tones, using several 
Indian languages, but the apparition had fled 
and would not return. If neither friends nor 
food were at hand, at least a bed had been 
found, and the doughty explorer did not hesi- 
tate to appropriate the comforts of the fireside 
from which the unwilling host had retreated 
sans ceremony. The thought of fear for his per- 
sonal safety seldom troubled this man LaSalle. 

The next day he wandered along our river in 
search of his friends. Having passed the pres- 
ent site of Mishawaka, he was found by Tonty 
" two leagues above the portage." A few min- 
utes later the White Beaver joined them. Two 
leagues above the portage, if we follow the 

33 



meanderings of the river, would bring us to a 
point within the present city limits of South 
Bend, probably not far from the Michigan 
Street bridge. The finding of LaSalle was an 
immense relief to Tonty and the Indian, and, 
of course, to LaSalle himself. In the greetings 
of the Frenchmen Gallic enthusiasm must have 
found a very hearty expression; nor could the 
high lights of the scene have suffered from the 
foil which they certainly found in the sedate 
composure of the Indian guide. The three 
made their way down the bank of the river to 
the portage landing, where they joined their 
friends late in the afternoon. Here they 
observed that the thoughtfulness of Father 
Ribourde had prompted him to cut crosses on 
the trees, so that their lost leader might recog- 
nize the place, in case he should wander by 
while the party was away looking for him. 
Many of the trees in this region had been blazed 
by the Iroquois war parties in making signals 
for their friends. But trees marked by the 
Christian symbol would be understood by 
LaSalle without any peradventure of mistake. 
Tonty speaks of the great joy of these anxious 
ones over the restoration of their captain. 

This meeting at the landing supplies the sub- 
ject for the first painting, " LaSalle at the Por- 
tage, Dec. 5th, 1679." See frontispiece. 



34 



THE OLD PORTAGE LANDING. 



The Old Portage Landing. 

The spot where the ancient portage path left 
the St. Joseph is one of rarest beauty. Few 
could be indifferent to its charms. There are 
some of us who remember it tenderly from 
those early days when we approached the place 
in a boy's voyage of discovery down the river. 
The great ox-bow which the stream makes at 
this point, as it turns from a due west course to 
one due east, is held in place by a lofty and 
steep bank skirting the outer margin of the 
curve throughout its entire length; in fact, the 
river, in past ages, has made a vast amphithea- 
ter in this place by its deep excavations in the 
bluff that constitutes the eastern margin of the 
prairie.* In those other days the banks were 



* In the days of French exploration, the Indians called this prai- 
rie "Ox-Head Prairie," as Charlevoix has told us. The name was 
derived from the circumstance that an ox-head of "gigantic size" 
had once been found here. This may have been the head of a buffalo, 
or it may have been that of a mastodon washed out of the glacial 
debris that everywhere underlies this prairie, and sometimes yields 
the remains of both the mastodon and the mammoth. In southern 
Ohio, the remains of the mastodon were found on the surface of the 
ground, when the white man first appeared. So the name which the 
French rendered "Ox-Head Prairie" might have been Mastodon 
Prairie in pure Miami. Our century has known this tract as Portage 
Prairie, because across it ran the ancient portage path to the head- 

37 



more heavily wooded and the shades were hence 
a little more pronounced. The water was deep 
and dark, and almost without current or eddy. 
As our boat drifted slowly along the outer mar- 
gin of the curve, we looked up to find ourselves 
in a spot quite fit for some tale of strange 
enchantment. The fine arc of the river's course 
enclosing us on three sides, the high slopes of 
the walls of living green, and the long shadows 
that lay motionless on this unwonted calm of 
the stream, kindled emotions not yet forgotten 
nor soon to be. Those who have viewed the 
place will feel no surprise that one of the oldest 
inhabitants of the locality should be able to 
recall that the Indians loved to draw up their 
canoes along this shore, and that almost any 
day a few fires were to be seen at the portage 
landing on the north bank. The last remnant 
of the vanishing race clung fondly to these 
scenes. They loved the spot, and so may we. 
There is an atmosphere about the place; yet 
the spell it works is not in any way weird or 
uncanny, but such as may soothe the spirit and 
draw it into a mood for sober reflection. 

If you will climb up the high bank at almost 



waters of the Kankakee. There is a northern extension of this prai- 
rie, reaching for many miles — nearly as far as Buchanan, Mich., — 
with open spaces here and there running toward the St. Joseph. The 
soil would lead one to think that the entire tract was at one time an 
open plain, on which, ages ago, the forest began to encroach, until 
the northern part, when the white man came, was much cut up by 
long tongues and islands of the woodland. 

38 



any point in this bend of the river, you may 
observe numerous cedar stumps several inches 
in diameter. Such cedars were once plentiful 
here, as indicated by these remains and the 
small growths still surviving. One such tree 
still stands, as you will plainly note, a grand old 
sentinel on the south arm of the river's arc. In 
the other days this great cedar had a compan- 
ion on the north side very close to the landing 
itself. Only a stump of the latter tree remains, 
but it is more than seven feet in circumference. 
Its red heart holds the entire story of the white 
man's exploits at the portage landing. East of 
the landing and half way up the bank, and now 
by the winding road side, stands a white oak, 
You will not overlook it. Its glory had been 
shorn by storm after storm, but it still flung to 
the breeze one tattered ensign of green, until the 
severe drought a few seasons ago quenched its 
feeble energies forever. This venerable mon- 
arch, also, could unfold the tale of the French- 
man's bold adventure and high design. It 
could tell us, too, of the time when its leafy 
arms reached far out over the ford that crosses 
the river here, just in front of the spot where 
its massive trunk rises from the sand; and, per- 
haps, it could tell of those men who, ages ago, 
placed stepping stones here from bank to bank. 
It could tell us of the great herds of buffaloes 
that sometimes filed down the portage path and 

39 



across this ford to the groves beyond and the 
open plain far to the east.* Nor can one turn 
away from this aged oak without wondering 
whether the compact folds of its growth do not 
somewhere contain the traces of one of Father 
Ribourde's crosses. 

At a point on the high bank near the center 
of the river's curve, a savage scout might have 
concealed himself, when the Miamis, in 1681, 
came up the St. Joseph to meet the Illinois, 
their relatives, whose towns had been laid waste 
by fire and plunder and themselves compelled 
to fly before that relentless foe, the dreaded 
Iroquois. The scout would fasten his eye on 
the north arm of the river; for, around the 
sharp bend far to the east will come, by twos 
and threes or in lengthening line, an immense 
flotilla of canoes. All of the Miamis will be 
there, thousands of them, man, woman and 
child, all fired with one impulse, the defense of 
their friends against the implacable enemies 
from the far east. The sharp eyes peering 



* The meadows and open forests along the St. Joseph— especially 
in this part of its course — were known to the old French inhabitants 
as the " Parch aux Vache," or cow pastures; and this title is said to 
have supplanted an older Indian name of similar import. It had 
such a name because it was a famous resort for the buffalo. Father 
Hennepin tells us that the buffaloes were here in such numbers that 
the Miamis " sometimes killed from one hundred to two hundred 
daily." And he adds that they did this by setting fire to the grass so 
as to enclose a herd of these animals in a fiery corral and thus force 
them to pass a given point in making their escape. At this point the 
Indians stationed themselves with their bows and arrow*. 

40 



through the cedar trees, will count the painted 
warriors, as each canoe struggles through the 
stony rapids below the ford. This skulking foe 
will lie close to the sod, as these same canoes 
swing into the quiet expanse below. When 
night has fallen and the kettles are swung and 
the fires are burning, he will steal nearer to 
catch, if he may, the warnings of the old men ) 
the counsels of the chiefs, the vauntings of the 
young men and the songs of the brave. How 
rich must have been the savage traditions that 
clustered around this spot ! What life-long 
memories must have centered here ! Now the 
rendezvous of friends, and now the ambush of 
some deadly foe, it listened, in turn, to high 
hopes and burning counsels or caught the dark 
fears that glanced from eye to eye. We do not 
easily forget those spots on earth where our 
strongest emotions are greatly kindled. Such 
a spot was this to the Red Man, and the mem- 
ories in the savage breast must have been like 
the perpetual green of these sloping walls. 

But whatever the native charms of the locality 
to which their wanderings had brought them, 
this region had nothing but threatenings of 
disaster in store for these brave men. The 
party had encamped at the portage. That 
night, LaSalle and Father Hennepin slept in 
the same lodge, a structure improvised after 
the Indian fashion out of mats and plaited 



bulrushes resting on bent saplings. During 
the night their lodge caught fire, and those who 
have left an account of the accident thought 
that the inmates made a narrow escape from 
death. The bank of the river just above the 
landing is steep and high, but from the landing 
itself there leads away a narrow yet exceed- 
ingly beautiful defile, which rises by an imper- 
ceptible grade to the prairie on the west. It 
meets the prairie at a point where the latter 
crosses the Niles, or Portage road and makes 
its nearest approach to the river. This same 
place on the edge of the prairie is also reached 
by a wide path that lies in and by the side of the 
present east and west drive-way, extending from 
the Niles road to the landing and beyond. 
Either the narrow defile, with its broad, smooth 
path, or the present east and west drive-way, 
may mark the course of the ancient portage 
path. Doubtless both were in use. Near the 
spot where the defile comes to the Niles road, 
a tract was uncovered, in establishing the grade 
of the highway, where children for years have 
been accustomed to find glass beads and those 
trinkets which indicate the site of the fur 
trader's home. The fur trader got under the 
shadow of a fort, whenever it was possible to 
do so. Our best historians have thought that 
LaSalle built a second fort at the portage dur- 
ing one of his subsequent journeys. These 



beads might serve to show where this fort 
stood, as well as to establish a point in the 
portage path.* 



* Mr. Robert Myler, former Auditor of St. Joseph County, who 
owns the land surrounding the old portage landing, has donated 
nearly two acres of ground directly on the line of the portage trail, 
to the Northern Indiana Historical Society, under the condition that 
it be used for the erection of a monument to the memory of LaSalle. 
The Society is taking steps to mark the spot with a temporary mon- 
ument, and hopes in time to be able to erect a bronze statue of the 
explorer there. The place is still in its native state and is called 
LaSalle Park. 



43 




PHOTO BY W. B. STOVEK. 

ABOVE THE PORTAGE. 



CROSSING THE PORTAGE. 



Crossing the Portage. 



On the morning- 
of December 6th, 
the hardy explor- 
ers, gathering to- 
gether all their ef- 
fects, prepared to 
cross the portage 
to the Kankakee. 
This was no slight 
undertaking, as 
will appear to one 
who considers the 
conditions. We 
have seen that the 
party ascended the 
St. Joseph in eight 
birch-bark canoes. 
These canoes had 
old witness tree. been purchased 

from the Indians at one of the fishing grounds 
of the Chippewas, the Straits of Mackinac, and 
they were each large enough to carry from ten 
to fourteen persons. There were thirty-three 
people in LaSalle's party and most of them 




were embarked in four of the canoes. The 
remaining four were loaded down with the 
equipment of the expedition. This equipment 
consisted of merchandise for barter with the 
natives, the clothing and arms of the party, the 
cooking utensils and a small amount of food, 
together with an extensive outfit for the build- 
ing of that vessel which should be a companion 
ship for the " Griffin." This ship-building out- 
fit included a forge and bellows with the black- 
smith's anvil and his tools; also a considerable 
amount of iron to be made up into nails, bolts, 
plates, rods, etc. And there were the ship's 
carpenter and joiner tools and a pit saw for 
sawing planks. 

There were, of course, no beasts of burden at 
hand and no wagons. Every article taken 
across this prairie, a distance of nearly five 
miles, must be borne on the backs of men. 
And, besides, the canoes themselves must be 
carried over. They were of very light weight, 
comparatively speaking, consisting of nothing 
more than frail cedars for framework, covered 
with the thin bark of the white birch. But such 
was their bulk and shape that each must be 
taken on the backs of two men, one at either end 
of the canoe. They could not be conveniently 
handled by less nor more than two men. Here, 
then, was employment for sixteen of the party. 
The others must bend under the burden of the 

48 



equipment, consisting in this case of several 
thousand pounds. Some of the men were aged; 
Father Ribourde was sixty-four. Yet, we do 
not doubt, he carried his full share; he had 
shown a disposition to do as much at the Niag- 
ara portage. Both cheerful and full of enthusi- 
asm, he had always sought in every way to inspirit 
the men. How much did LaSalle himself carry? 
And what kind of a burden could the round 
and jovial Hennepin bear? Whatever share 
was taken from one man's shoulders must be laid 
on the already overburdened back of another. 

In starting on one of these wilderness jour- 
neys, it was customary to make very careful 
estimates of the capacity of each member of 
the expedition as a burden bearer. And in later 
times, it was the rule of the fur companies that 
any man who gave out on a portage, or fell with 
his burden, should be deserted in the wilder- 
ness. This might appear an awful penalty for 
laziness or an outrageous wrong against the 
weak and infirm. But, it was one of those iron 
rules which awful necessities made imperative; 
for, under such circumstances, when a man 
threw down his burden, the valuable wares 
would in most cases be a total loss, and the 
mere attempt to prevent such loss might prove 
disastrous to the entire expedition. It was 
always greatly desired and generally indispensa- 
ble that the entire work at a portage should be 

49 



performed at one trip; for, should the party be 
divided in guarding the effects at both ends of 
the portage and in passing to and fro, some 
lurking enemy might easily overcome the sep- 
arated detachments. And such enemies were 
ever in wait for those whose feet must press 
these wilderness paths. Indeed, the solitary 
Indian whose bivouac LaSalle had surprised, 
suggests that such a foe was at hand, awaiting 
an opportunity of attacking the party when it 
should cross our prairie. 

That there should have been an open prairie 
at this place, was a fortunate circumstance, since 
it afforded some protection against ambush. 
All who mention the scene speak of it as one 
of great beauty, a gently rolling tract, dotted 
with clumps of trees and covered with a heavy 
turf. In the summer months, a sprinkling of 
flowers gave a flash of color to the view, chang- 
ing as the season advanced. Those who saw 
the western prairies in their pristine loveliness, 
declare that the prevailing tint which the flow- 
ers gave the landscape in springtime, was red; 
in midsummer, blue; while in the autumnit was 
yellow, a herald of the approaching fall of the 
leaf. 

A summer's day on our portage had a charm 
all its own, a charm for those whose nerves 
were not too sensitive to the ever-present ele- 
ment of danger. The buffalo was there and 

50 



innumerable deer; the fox and the lynx 
threaded their careful way where the grass was 
tall; wolves looked hungrily over some rising 
knoll; the panther had his lair in the wooded 
tract; and the black bear trundled across an 
arm of the prairie or sat on his haunches in the 
shade of a solitary oak and dreamed of acorns 
that were ripening for him. But when the dark 
December days had come and cutting blasts 
brought to the St. Joseph the greetings of the 
marshes and, with the advancing season, the 
snow began to pile itself higher and higher, it 
was a scene to weigh heavily on the heart of 
the traveler. 

And such, we are told by LaSalle, was their 
first view of the prairie. Stout men might have 
been forgiven for thinking of home and for 
shedding tears and begging their doughty 
leader to turn back, so completely would the 
wild desolation of the scene break down the 
spirits of even the brave. The ground was 
white with snow and the field was dotted every- 
where with the skeletons of buffaloes that had 
perished here in the drifts of the preceding 
winter. In the stare of those eyeless sockets 
there was an evil omen, and only too well did 
these worn pilgrims divine its meaning. Threats 
of mutiny began to be heard. The food supply 
had been growing very short of late, and 
thoughts of famine, the scourge of the wilder- 



ness, had for many days kept these travelers in 
a troubled state of mind. 

LaSalle had shown them that for this reason, 
if for no other, they should press on to the Illi- 
nois country, where it might be that better con- 
ditions awaited them. He was a good talker, 
and by example, too, he was able to rouse their 
failing courage and to inspire them again and 
again with that conquering enthusiasm that 
filled his own soul, as it must the souls of all 
who would achieve nobly. But appeals, how- 
ever inspiring, could not overcome all opposi- 
tion. One of the men — whose abhorred name 
was Duplessis — doubtless bearing some ill-will 
against LaSalle and determined that the party 
should go no further, resolved to kill the 
leader. Stealing up from behind, this villain 
had raised his gun to shoot LaSalle in the back, 
but the timely interference of others averted 
the catastrophe. This act of murderous treach- 
ery being happily forestalled, they followed on 
across the prairie. But it was a critical moment 
and came near putting a final and fatal period 
to the career of LaSalle. 

Crossing the portage was not a general scram- 
ble over the prairie in almost any line, but it 
was a single file along a very definite path. 
Those who remember the locality from the days 
previous to the survey of the Michigan road 
speak of the path as deep and straight. In 

52 



places it was so deep that a man on horseback 
could almost touch either bank with his foot. 
On the prairies a wagon rut will sometimes 
wash into a miniature gully during a rainy sea- 
son. But not so the path worn by the unshod 
hoofs of the wild herd or the one pressed into 
the soil deeper and deeper, year after year and 
age after age, by the moccasined foot of the 
savage. And, it is wonderful, how these old 
avenues of the life that is gone still exist almost 
without change, in those localities where the 
axe and the plow have spared the native condi- 
tions of the virgin soil. There are many tracts 
in our valley where portions of these paths may 
still be seen, and for some mysterious reason 
nature has refused to encroach upon their ven- 
erable precincts with any plant life of the larger 
growth, and the old trail now, as in days of 
yore, winds plain and distinct. And we can 
understand why this portage path should have 
been a deep one. 

Unnumbered ages and countless hosts well 
knew the trend of this ancient highway; ages 
when the hosts of the lower Mississippi and the 
Gulf sought the copper mines of the upper lake 
region. Not only in the mounds throughout 
the great valley and the Gulf region, but also 
in the oldest of the Peruvian tombs, are found 
implements and tokens made from the Lake 
Superior copper. And we may not doubt that 

53 



the traffic which these facts imply was itself, in 
part, responsible for the depth of this path. 
Nor is it strange that it should have been a 
straight path. We may easily imagine that 
backs bending under the weary loads would not 
allow the shuffling, staggering footsteps to wan- 
der even a little from the shortest line between 
the two water courses. 

The length of this path is four and eighty- 
five one-hundredths miles, and this is the short- 
est distance between the St. Joseph and the 
accessible waters of the Kankakee navigable 
for boats during all seasons of the year. Father 
Hennepin states that the Kankakee has its 
source " on the west side" of this prairie. This 
was doubtless a correct description in his day, 
although as this generation has known the prai- 
rie it does not seem to extend so far to the 
west. A strip of woodland intervenes between 
the head of the Kankakee on the west and what 
we have known as the limits of the prairie in 
that direction. But the notes of the govern- 
ment survey of the Michigan road state that 
the regions covered by the western part of the 
portage path were " very thinly wooded,' in 
1840, and the soil there is for the most part like 
that of the open prairie. In our century, the 
forest had begun to encroach on the prairie, 
just as it is known to have done on the borders 
of the Green River prairies in Kentucky, since 

54 



the settlement of that country by the white 
man. So, in LaSalle's day, our prairie extended 
farther west. 

Here, then, on the west side of the prairie, in 
the midst of what Hennepin calls " much shak- 
ing earth," referring to the well-known spongy 
soil of many of our quaking marshes, began the 
much-sought-for Illinois, or Kankakee, river. 
This source of the great river consists of sev- 
eral small pools, some of which are in the 
marshy tract and two — the first and the last 
— in the surrounding hills. They run one into 
the other, and finally into the first of what we 
know as Chain Lakes. From the lower end of 
the south lake puts out the little stream which, 
together with an arm lying still further west, 
forms what is marked on the earliest govern- 
ment, surveys as the " Grapevine," a name 
highly suggestive of the trouble which LaSalle 
and his party experienced from the extremely 
zigzag course of the uppermost parts of the 
Kankakee. The Grapevine, as every hunter 
knows, is one interminable series of crooks and 
turns. It forms the main part of the upper 
Kankakee, and is joined by the south arm at 
Crum's Point. The south arm rises in a spring 
on the extreme south margin of the marsh, with 
miles of swamp lying between it and the dry 
grounds contiguous to the portage landing of 
the St. Joseph. 




Photo by \V. B. Stover. 
CRUMSTOWN TRAIL, NEAR THE ST. JOSEPH. 



TREND OF THE ANCIENT PATH. 




LA SALLE AT 42. 



tfU^alL 



Trend of the Ancient Path. 

The scholarly priest, traveler and essayist, 
Charlevoix, came this way in September, 1721. 
He and his Canadian boatmen did not try to 
get across the portage in one day, but encamped 
for the night on the high ground midway 
between the two rivers. He speaks of the spot 
as an '• extremely beautiful place." We of this 
day call this elevated tract Mount Pleasant. 
It begins at the Mount Pleasant chapel on the 
Michigan road and runs north a mile or more, 
slightly increasing in elevation. From its sum- 
mit may be gained a most entrancing view of 
the entire plain in which South Bend now lies, 
but where, in Charlevoix's time, a noble forest 
held sway. When he continued his journey the 
next day the path, he states, led him through 
damp ground. The straight course of the path 
beyond this elevated spot would lead him 
through low ground. He could have avoided 
the low ground by turning slightly to the south; 
but if he should do so, such a course would 
lead up hill and down hill several times, and 
this would be a serious inconvenience to the 
men carrying the canoe and no particular help 

59 



to those bearing the other burdens. Hence, 
like others, they preferred the straight path 
with its damp ground. The intersection of the 
portage path with the present Michigan Road 
is in section 25 of Warren Township. To the 
west of this point, the path, after quitting the 
present line of this road, lies mainly on the 
property of the Woolverton homestead. The 
present generation of that family remember the 
section of the path lying on their farm and re- 
call the time when the Indians frequently came 
this way to reach the second of the series of 
little ponds which lie to the southwest of the 
house, and which are the very source of the 
Kankakee, as stated above. Charlevoix him- 
self states that his men put the boat in the 
second of these ponds. The first one lies in 
the hills on the south side of the marsh, the 
outlet running north to connect it with the 
second. He puts his boat into the second be- 
cause the first one could not be reached with- 
out a detour around the eastern section of the 
marsh, and because the second pond in the 
series is the first to which one comes along 
the line of this path. Furthermore, the first 
and the last of this series of Charlevoix's ponds 
are deeply imbedded in the hills. Their con- 
dition in La Salle's time was the same as now, 
except that they probably had more water at 
that date. In the summer they are now nearly 



dry. One can find a series of ponds almost 
anywhere in the Kankakee marsh land, but 
they are of a temporary nature and seldom 
survive for many seasons. They are due to 
the fall fires burning out the peat accumulations 
and they are sometimes of considerable depth. 
But before this land was drained, such ponds 
disappeared in a few seasons from the closing 
in of the soft sides of the slough. In getting 
out of the series of ponds on the Woolverton 
estate, Charlevoix's men broke their boat. The 
little stream connecting the pools, after leaving 
the last one and working its way through a 
piece of high ground, makes a very sharp angle 
in turning toward the bog at the head of Chain 
Lakes. Such an angle was always dangerous to 
navigation when birch bark canoes were in use. 
The frail canoe lying on the water would hold 
a ton's weight of merchandise. But if it is to 
be lifted from its aqueous surroundings, its 
contents must first be carefully removed, lest 
any object of even light weight should spring 
a seam or start a rift in the tender bark. A 
boat such as we use can easily be pulled around 
a sharp angle in a narrow stream. But when 
Charlevoix's men tried to perform this opera- 
tion, they broke the canoe. They would then 
have no difficulty in finding the necessary resin- 
ous material for healing the wound, for tama- 
racks flourished in the vicinity of these ponds. 

61 



But after the resin is gathered, it must be boiled 
for several hours before it is ready for use. 
Delayed for a day in his journey, Charlevoix 
sat down in the pleasant grove that surrounds 
the spot and, having nothing else to do, gave 
his minute description of the portage and these 
ponds. Thanks to that broken boat, we have 
the testimony of an eye witness whose state- 
ments, together with Hennepin's, enable us to 
trace throughout its entire length this ancient 
highway of the old life. 

LaHontan, who viewed this region during 
LaSalle's time, represents the Kankakee as ris- 
ing in a lake surrounded by a great beaver 
town. The whole region of the Chain Lakes 
was admirably adapted to the life of the beaver, 
the sedgy margins and the very shallow waters 
of the lakes being convenient for their house 
building and the near-by alder thickets supply- 
ing the materials. The late M. W. Stokes, in 
his map of 1863, dignifies the morass north of 
the first lake, by a name under which it was then 
known, Beaver Lake. This presumably is from 
the remains found there by the early settlers. 
These same early settlers long referred to the 
outlet at the south extremity of the last lake 
as the place of the beaver dam, a very large 
one standing there during the early days. In- 
deed, it is still plainly to be seen where the 
little creek leaves the marl flats of the lake for 

62 



the first dry ground. The old inhabitants say 
that this dam was such an unusually large one 
fifty~years ago'that it was well known to every 
one who lived in the neighborhood, and a topic 
of frequent conversation among the fishermen 
and hunters. It is about the last surviving 
piece of evidence tending to confirm the truth- 
fulness of LaHontan's representations and the 
reliability of DTberville's enthusiastic letter 
to the French crown, when he declares 
that this western country had great natural 
wealth, and that the region of the Kankakee 
and the St. Joseph was the place where 
"beavers are plenty." Other evidence of the 
life of the beaver is sometimes to be found on 
the dry ground near the lakes, for here occa- 
sionally one may find a beaver tooth. The spot 
was the site of the Miami town referred to by 
the early explorers. It was a very large town 
in LaSalle's day ; for six or seven thousand of 
its inhabitants went with him from this spot to 
live near his fort at Starved Rock, on the Illi- 
nois River. According to the Red Man's man- 
ner of life, such a town would cover a region 
several miles in extent. " Mad " Anthony 
Wayne afterward laid waste the settlement of 
these same Miamis extending for many miles 
along the Maumee. The abundant Indian re- 
mains in the vicinity show that the Miami vil- 
lage here must have quite surrounded the lakes 

63 



and at the time of LaSalle's coming, it ex- 
tended as far as the middle of the prairie 
through which the portage ran. For the ac- 
count tells us that LaSalle could see the tops 
of their lodges from the St. Joseph end of the 
path. The conspicuous heights at the middle 
of the prairie would make this possible for 
lodges standing there. Indeed, Charlevoix forty 
years after LaSalle's first visit, found in this 
very place the remains of a fortified village of 
the Fox Indians. Nearby springs made the 
locality one suitable for the Indian's home. 
But the evidences of the presence of the 
Miamis, while numerous throughout the entire 
shore line of these lakes, are most abundant on 
the west side of the south lake and around the 
little outlet, the head of the Grapevine. 

Nor were the Miamis the only ones who tried 
to hold the portage in the days agone. The 
mound-builder, long ages before, was here. 
On the northwest bank of the south lake, 
just south of the Lake Shore tracks, are three 
large mounds and two small ones. They have 
supplied some of the finest of the copper axes 
in the South Bend collections, and in the 
vicinity are the usual cloth marked fragments 
of pottery and broken stone implements indi- 
cating the presence of that old race whose re- 
mains are so conspicuous throughout the valley 
of the Kankakee and the Illinois. In plain 

64 



view of the mounds and of the little outlet 
lower down the lake, are the localities where 
one may find abundant remains of signal fires 
on the highest points of land at the east side 
of the south lake. What fears chilled the 
blood of those ancient guards on these hill- 
tops? What hosts did they summon to the 
defense of this gateway between the great 
valley and the northland? And what was the 
issue of the struggle — what the fate of the van- 
quished? The mounds on the west and the hill- 
tops on the east, with the quiet lake between 
may share these secrets with the stars, but 
human records will boast of little more than 
the bare truth that primitive man once loved 
these scenes, and here in the day of his might 
challenged the invading foe. 

But the Miamis, who were the lords here in 
1679, however they might contend with others 
who would force these gates, offered no pro- 
test to LaSalle's passage through their domain. 
The dignified manliness of his bearing com- 
mended this leader to the heart of the savage. 
The emphasis of his positive nature, coupled 
with his far-seeing prudence and his inflexible 
integrity, were the very elements of character 
with which in those days the Red Man's favor 
was easily won and permanently secured. 
Here was a white man with whom the Indian 
could effect an understanding. And so the 



65 



little party held their way in safety down the 
oozy, zigzag channel of the Kankakee. As 
they disappear beyond the clumps of tall 
grass we may ask why those Frenchmen were 
struggling through this remote wilderness in 
that year of grace, 1679. What did they seek 
and what motives prompted their quest? They 
sought empire! And those who have followed 
their further fortunes know at what a fearful 
cost the prize was ultimately won. After Father 
Marquette had discovered the Mississippi, La 
Salle had been the first to understand that the 
great river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and 
not into the Pacific ocean, as many had be- 
lieved and all had hoped. And he alone 
seems to have realized that immediate and vig- 
orous action was necessary, if the French would 
forestall the Spaniards on the south and the 
English on the east in taking possession of the 
great central valley. To seize and hold this 
vast domain for France he was willing to 
devote his worldly possessions and his life. 
He felt that such a prize would not be dear at 
any price which he could pay in honor. It 
was his hope, however, that the cost of the 
undertaking could be met out of the profits of 
the fur trade, and he naturally strove to make 
those profits as considerable as possible. But 
personal gains were not a prime object with La 
Salle in any of his undertakings. His would 



be the exalted task of adding to the French 
realm and planting the cross in fields where its 
blessings had never been felt and its praises 
had never been sung He sought an empire 
which should be held in the name of France 
and which should be devoted to the glory of 
God. 

Concerning this new empire, of which the 
valleys of the St. Joseph, the Kankakee and 
the Illinois were to be a conspicuous part, the 
priest, the traveler and the soldier of those times 
spoke in terms of unstinted praise. They praised 
the land for its delightful climate, which they 
maintained was well suited to the cultivation 
of the grape and the olive. The three varieties 
of the native grape — the blue, the red and the 
white — they even declared superior to the 
product of French soil. They were never 
weary of descanting on the abundant food 
supply derived, chiefly, from an unusually pro- 
lific soil, with its new plant life of marvelous 
and bewildering variety, and, in part, from the 
wonderful animal life teeming in every lake 
and stream, or thundering over the prairies in 
vast herds which no man could count, or rising 
-on the wing in darkening clouds as limitless as 
the hosts of Armageddon. 



6? 



THE WILDERNESS EMPIRE. 



The Wilderness Empire. 

On hearing these tales of the great West, 
those who had taken up their abode among the 
inhospitable rocks of the lower St. Lawrence 
longed to exchange their cold sky for the more 
congenial airs of this favored clime. Across the 
sea these stories of the riches of the new land 
supplied a most exciting diversion. The after- 
dinner talk in Paris indulged in very pleasant 
speculations over the fresh glory that French- 
men were to achieve in a realm where nature 
was so benign. Theirs was a prospect as invit- 
ing as it was unique. The savages were to be 
won to the faith, and all in sweet harmony 
were to devote this land to religion and the fur 
trade. It was not to be a country of planted 
fields and great cities. Frowning forts of solid 
masonry were to guard the marts where the in- 
dustries of France might furnish suitable 
exchange for the natural wealth of the wilder- 
ness, and in the shadow of bastion and turreted 
walls were to rise the cloister and the cathedral. 
It is not strange that the modern historian 
should have paused so often to speculate on the 
outcome that might have been had French life 



realized the vision that in those old days rose 
before the court of Versailles and long occu- 
pied an important part in its more serious plans 
and purposes, and its pious as well as pleasing 
meditations. There was, indeed, the full prom- 
ise of something very unique in human affairs — 
a great nation of devout Catholics, in which a 
worshiper with features overcast with American 
bronze should lisp Christian prayers in French 
accents; a race in which the gay and pleasure- 
loving ways of a mild peasantry should be 
harmoniously commingled with those of the 
cautious, keen-eyed and meditative Indian. 
It might have been, it would have been, had it 
not become necessary to reckon with the 
aggressive Anglo-Saxon; for it was the Anglo- 
Saxon that, with little ceremony and less 
regret, tore from its gilded frame the last ves- 
tiges of the fair picture. And yet France had 
been given a hundred years in which to work 
out her dream — a hundred years in which the 
English language was to be a barbarous and 
unfamiliar jargon to the white men living on 
the banks of our river. A hundred years, and 
yet how little now survives to tell of that old 
life! The antiquarian knows where, in some 
secluded spot, the spade and sieve will bring to 
light a gun-flint, a few glass beads, a silver 
buckle and a hand wrought nail; and such are 
almost the sole remains of French empire in 

72 



all the great valley. It might have been other- 
wise, it doubtless would have been, had any 
worthy successors appeared to take up the work 
of LaSalle and Tonty. Had the spirit of LaSalle, 
which was the practical and indomitable spirit 
of our age, and which was worthy of any age, 
had his spirit found a proper appreciation at 
home and a suitable following here, it must have 
wrought out for his native land much more 
than the full fruition of her fondest hopes. It 
must have wrought out for his beloved France 
and for his still more beloved faith a permanent 
empire, secure against the Anglo-Saxon and 
the world. 



73 



THE MIAMI TREATY. 



The Miami Treaty. 



The American In- 
dian has always hail- 
ed with delight any 
proposal for a friend- 
ly council. His most 
conspicuous figure in 
recorded history is 
connected with the 
treaties made through 
the free exchange of 
opinions at such a 
council. He was fond 
of the council, be- 
cause it enabled him 
to display such sav- 
age finery as his 
wardrobe might in- 
clude, and because of 
the feast of good 
things and the gen- 
eral hilarity that fol- 
lowed the solemn de- 

A KANKAKEE GLIMPSE. i-i ,• -i-> ±. j.1 

liberations. .But the 
supreme attraction of the council was the thea- 




ter which it alone afforded for a public 
exhibition of the philosophy and the rhet- 
oric of the woods. The " applause of a con- 
senting' multitude" was the object of an Indian's 
highest ambition and the source of his keenest 
gratification. The studious decorum with which 
these assemblies were regulated, the moving 
eloquence of their orators and the care with 
which every opinion was weighed, have filled 
the page of the chronicler with expressions of 
astonishment and admiration. 

It is an interesting fact that a celebrated 
treaty made by white people with the Indians 
was the outcome of such a council held on our 
Portage Prairie in 1681. The parties to this com- 
pact were, on the one hand, LaSalle and his 
followers and, on the other, the Miami nation. 
This treaty was one of the most important 
achievements of LaSalle's life, since it alone, at 
that juncture, could insure the success of his 
plans. The great French explorer, as we have 
seen, had penetrated these western regions, and 
having built forts, was seeking to hold the coun- 
try in the interests of the French crown and to 
control the fur trade. But the fierce Iroquois 
Indians of New York were also in this territory 
with their war parties, seeking to subjugate the 
various tribes and secure their trade in the 
interests of the English on the Hudson. Noth- 
ing in the annals of savage warfare is more ter- 

78 



rible than the depredations committed by these 
Iroquois in this western country. During 
LaSalle's absence they had destroyed the great 
town of the Illinois tribe and compelled the 
remnant of that people to fly far into the depths 
of the wilderness. They threatened the utter 
ruin of all the plans of the French. To check 
the Iroquois and to provide for the common 
defense of the native inhabitants, LaSalle 
sought to form a coalition of all the western 
tribes and to move the principal bands to the 
vicinity of Starved Rock, on the Illinois river. 
He had matured such a plan while spending the 
winter at his stronghold, Fort Miami, at the 
mouth of our St. Joseph river. He had retreated 
to this place for safety after having witnessed 
the desolation of the Illinois town. He found 
the various tribes favorable to such a plan of 
defense against the great enemy from the east; 
but its permanent success could not be assured 
until he had won the powerful Miamis to the 
support of the cause. The Iroquois, however, 
were subtle enough to discover what was going 
on and, anticipating the movements of the 
French, they laid siege to the hearts of the 
Miamis with such success as to strongly incline 
them toward the English. At this critical 
moment, LaSalle, with ten companions, visited 
the town of the Miamis on our Portage Prairie 
and in the Chain Lakes region, and invited these 



Indians to a council. They consented to hear 
what LaSalle might have to say. They would 
hold a council at the lodge of their head chief 
on a certain day and when the sun stood at a 
certain height in the heavens. 

This head chief was a very remarkable man. 
Both the Jesuit missionary, Father Dablon,and 
also Nicholas Perrot, the most famous of all voy- 
ageurs, have left tributes to his memory. They 
represent him as kind-hearted and gentlemanly 
and possessing great intellectual penetration. 
So just and wise was he that he was held in 
great esteem, even among other tribes more or 
less hostile to the Miamis, as was shown in the 
delegations which such tribes were constantly 
sending to consult this wilderness law-giver 
concerning their own affairs. Father Dablon 
says that he was a savage only in name. Yet 
this priest was probably the first white man 
whom the chief had seen. When the hour for 
the council arrived some of the mats were 
lifted from the lodge of this head chief and the 
tent poles moved to one side, so that the peo- 
ple might see the council and might hear the 
discourse and understand the nature of the 
transactions that were going forward. The 
prominent warriors of the tribe were arranged 
in a semi-circle on either side of their great 
leader, and before them stood LaSalle with his 
companions around him. 

80 



The scene was one well worthy of the brush 
of some great artist. The little prairie over 
which their glances swept from time to time, 
and through which the portage path then ran, 
is spoken of by the early traveler as a place of 
great beauty. Its eastern margin reaches in 
one spot almost to the landing on the St. 
Joseph, where the Frenchmen had drawn their 
canoes out of the water, and after rising by 
gentle swells to the high point where these 
lodges of the Miamis then stood, the plain 
sinks gradually to the west — to that series of 
ponds and little lakes that are the very source 
of the Kankakee River. From the elevated 
spot at the centre, the vision easily includes 
many miles along the charming valley of the 
St. Joseph on the east, the tract where South 
Bend now stands. In that day, sylvan avenues 
replaced our streets and gigantic forest trees 
our dwellings, trees that stood far apart and 
lifted their lowermost branches thirty to forty 
feet from the ground. Beneath,, no under- 
growth was allowed to survive, but every- 
where was spread a soft, thick turf, while here 
and there in the park-like vistas could be 
seen the antlered buck or the does with their 
fawns. 

But when those who had assembled for this 
council turned their eyes to the south and the 
west, they beheld the great fens and marshes 



of the Kankakee land sweeping far away with 
the river's onward course to the plains of Illi- 
nois and the Mississippi. Glistening pools 
everywhere dotted this vast area, pools that 
were the homes of countless millions of water- 
fowls. Flocks of plover and snipe swept 
around the borders of the marsh land, while 
the cranes stood in a row in the shallow 
water, or rising on slow and ponderous pin- 
ions, filed. off in a never varying line toward 
the sky's silver edge. A veritable cloud of 
ducks and geese and swans coming in from 
the swift cold waters of the St. Joseph, fell into 
the silent pools with splash and clamor and 
confusion of buffeting wings. The unac- 
customed eye of the guest in this Indian en- 
campment must have given more than a 
passing glance to this endless whirl of happy 
life that fluttered over the marshes. But the 
red skinned host fixed his gaze not on the 
water fowls, not on the hundreds of hawks that 
patrolled the vast fields of wild rice, but upon 
the great war eagles that rose on slanting pin- 
ions, " climbing their air}- spirals to the clouds." 
Happy the Indian whose brave deeds were such 
that his tribe would allow him to fasten to his 
hair the plumes of the war eagle. Each feather 
is an historical record The first one stands 
for the brave act in which this hero overcame 
his people's foe at the ford near the portage 



landing. The next marks the time when he 
repulsed the Kickapoos that lay in the tall 
grasses along the Kankakee to ambush a Miami 
hunter. And this third feather stands for the 
victory which he won when the young men of 
his tribe contended with the Ottawas on this 
very prairie in their famous ball-play. 

But concerns apparently more important 
than the birds of the air filled the mind of La- 
Salle as he turned to meet the glance of those 
flashing eyes that alone gave animation to the 
dark and rigid features of these men of the 
wilderness. One can picture in his fancy the 
stalwart explorer, with penetrating eye, flowing 
hair, and bronzed, stern visage, standing fear- 
less and self-reliant and drawing to himself the 
unflinching gaze of those solemn auditors. 
LaSalle, at the height of his strong manhood, 
was then thirty-seven years of age and in per- 
fect health. He was of powerful mold, but 
there was nothing of the braggart in his dispo- 
sition; yet, when it became necessary, he dis- 
played both his physical strength and his 
mental force. He was a genuine human dy- 
namo when thoroughly aroused and in action. 
Neither affrighted by goblins, nor awed by 
threats, he was, withal, a cultivated and refined 
gentleman, and could shine in the palace of a 
king as well as in this Red Man's wigwam. 
The listening warriors were quickly moved by 

83 



his eloquence, for LaSalle was deeply skilled 
in the forensic arts as they held sway at that 
time in the American forest. His first act was 
to distribute among them some tobacco. This, 
he said, was to clear the brains of his auditory. 
But LaSalle knew well that with these Indians 
the act would stand for something more. With 
them the use of tobacco was, primarily, a re- 
ligious ceremony. They regarded tobacco as 
the especial gift of the Great Spirit to his red 
children, and they thought that he was greatly 
pleased to see them enjoy his especial gift. 
So LaSalle's first appeal was to their religious 
instincts. This founder of French empire in 
the West had come into the wilderness well 
prepared for his arduous task. At his home 
on the St. Lawrence, he had made a profound 
study of Indian character, as his conduct on 
this occasion plainly reveals, for he next 
kindles their emotions by a sympathetic allusion 
to their dead. Unfolding before their aston- 
ished gaze great bundles of rich French 
cloths, "These," said he, "are to cover the 
graves of your dead." And then he placed in 
their hands some well-made garments, which he 
declared were also for the comfort of the dead. 
It is not necessary to suppose that any of 
these gifts would actually be laid on the forest 
tomb. It was only the Indian way of saying 
that he bestowed these gifts on the living as a 



compliment to the dead — that his respect for 
the living was such as to animate him with a 
desire to hold in sympathetic memory even 
those of their friends who had passed away. 
Then he went a step farther, and stated that he 
had heard of the recent death of one of their 
chiefs. "I have determined," said LaSalle, "to 
bring him back to life." This was their way of 
saying that he would provide clothing and food 
for the family of the dead chief. The audi- 
ence understood his figure of speech and broke 
forth into a perfect rapture of applause. He 
had now won their hearts. 

And does it seem strange that Indian hearts 
should be won by a respectful reference to their 
dead ? Was the memory of the departed such 
a tenderly sacred thing in the bosom of the 
Red Man? Did he truly love the graves of his 
fathers ? Read the story of the removal of 
any Indian tribe, of our Pottawattomies, for ex- 
ample, from its home country to some allotment 
of land in the southwest. In every case it will 
be found that one of the strongest objections 
urged against yielding their ancestral territory 
is the pain they feel at the loss of the graves 
of their friends. This objection the white man 
has commonly laughed to scorn, nor has he 
been at any pains to conceal his contempt for 
what he has deemed a mere subterfuge. But 
in truth, the Indian practices no deception in 

85 



this matter. He is very sincere in what he 
says. He loves the graves of his friends, be- 
cause he has no sort of doubt that the dead 
still live and long" for sympathetic attention, 
and that their spirits maybe communed with 
at the tomb. It may be recalled that nearly 
four thousand of the Cherokees perished when 
the tribe made the journey from their home 
in Georgia to Arkansas, and that of these, it is 
said, none perished of any known disease. We 
say of any known disease, because modern cul- 
ture regards lightly the disease once spoken of 
as a broken heart. They declared that it was 
the graves of their friends for which they 
mourned. The white man smiled in derision 
and the cavalcade of sorrow moved on through 
the valleys and over the hills of Tennessee. 
But one by one, they fell out of the ranks and 
crept up under the shades of the hemlock and 
pine, and throwing themselves on the bosom 
of Mother Earth, died of a broken heart. It 
is true that not many of us can die of a broken 
heart, but almost any Indian could. We are 
sorry that our ancestors did not understand the 
Indian. We wish that they could have under- 
stood him as the French did, as LaSalle did. 
The latter having won their hearts, proceeded 
to show them at this council what great advan- 
tages might be theirs, if they would stand un- 
der the banner of the great king, referring t<> 



Louis XIY. And then he paused to distribute 
among them a whole boat load of axes and 
guns and blankets and beads and knives and 
ornaments, all as an expression of the good 
will of the great king. 

These things done, LaSalle resumed his dis- 
course. " He who is my master," said he, "and 
the master of all this country, is a mighty 
chief, feared by the whole world ; but he loves 
peace, and the words of his lips are for good 
alone. He is called the King of France, and 
he is the mightiest among the chiefs beyond 
the great water. His goodness reaches even to 
your dead, and his subjects come among you 
to raise them up to life. But it is his will to 
preserve the life he has given ; it is his wdl 
that you should obey his laws, and make no 
war without leave of Onontio, who commands 
in his name at Quebec and who loves all the 
nations alike, because such is the will of the 
great king. You ought, then, to live at peace 
with your neighbors, and above all with the 
Illinois. You have had causes of quarrel with 
them ; but their defeat has avenged you. 
Though they are still strong, they wish to make 
peace with you. Be content with the glory of 
having obliged them to ask for it. You have 
an interest in preserving them ; since, if the 
Iroquois destroy them, they will next destroy 
vou. Let us all obev the great king and live 



together in peace: under his protection. Be of 
my mind, and use these guns that I have given 
you, not to make war, but only to hunt and to 
defend yourselves." 

And now, to confirm his words and to supply 
them with a token of his pledge to be their de- 
fender, he handed to .their chief two belts of 
wampum. This is the subject of the second 
painting, "The Miami Treaty." 

The chief received the tokens. His act was 
significant, for it showed that he and his people 
were disposed to consider carefully the propo- 
sitions of their French guest. The chief made- 
no further reply, but dissolved the council. 
He could make no further reply until the mem- 
bers of his tribe had been given an opportunity 
to express their preferences. But they did 
not deliberate long among themselves, for it 
was found that all with one accord called 
loudly for the French alliance. So the follow- 
ing' day the council was convened again, and 
the chief gave the tribe's endorsement of a 
treaty of mutual helpfulness between Miami 
and Frenchmen. The oration of the chief 
was a series of metaphors in which he accepts 
for his people the protection of the great king, 
and pledges to his cause the "beaver and the 
lands of the Miamis," and themselves individ- 
ually — body, intellect and heart. His speech 
has all the ecstacv and sincerity of a lover's 



song. And the Anglo-Saxon must admit that 
it was greatly to the credit of the French that 
their empires in the American wilderness were 
thus wooed and won. 



•"About seven thousand of these Miamis went with LaSalle and 
took up their abode at Starved Rock, on the Illinois river. After 
LaSalle had lost his life in Texas and Tonty had retired from the 
Illinois country. Father Allouez brought back a remnant of these 
people to their old home on the St. Joseph. 





From a painting by L. Clarence Ball. 
APPROACHING STORM OX THE KANKAKEE. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN TESTIMONY. 



Ancient and Modern Testimony. 

The accounts of the early explorers refer to a prairie 
as lying between the St. Joseph river and the head waters 
of the Kankakee and state that a portage path passing 
from one of these rivers to the other ran across this 
prairie. The head waters of the Kankakee are in our 
county and are well known, and the prairie referred to 
is alike conspicuous. The latter has always been known 
from the first settlement by the present population as 
Portage prairie, and it lies between the St. Joseph and 
one of the two sources of the Kankakee. No prairie lies 
between the St. Joseph and the other source of the Kan- 
kakee. There can be no doubt, then, that the region 
which we call Portage prairie is the one over which the 
French explorers passed in going from the water-shed 
of the Great Lakes to that of the Mississippi, when they 
used the route of the St. Joseph. The record of their 
passage through its confines is preserved in the very 
name of the prairie itself, "Portage" prairie. And 
not only did the explorers clearly state that the portage 
used in ancient times crossed this prairie, but Charle- 
voix has carefully described the latter. 

It is plain, hoAvever, that the modern portages did not 
cross this prairie. Many of the government maps and 
early surveys refer to them as elsewhere; namely, farther 
up the river. The township in which South Rend is 
located is called Portage township, apparently recording 
the fact that some of the modern portages led through 
its confines. The ancient portage could not have led 
through our township, because it led across the prairie 

93 



which is not in our township, hut is in German town- 
ship, below us on the river. Therefore, we conclude 
thai the modern portages led through Portage township — 
and many people now living remember that such was 
the case — and that the ancient portage led across Portage 
prairie, the portage path leaving the St. Joseph where 
prairie and river most nearly approach each other. This 
place of nearest approach is at the pronounced bend of 
our river to the west, in Section 27, German township. 

And not only does the position of this prairie establish 
the route of the portage path, but the line of this path 
and the place where it left the St. Joseph, are both just 
where one might reasonably suppose them to have been; 
for, it is natural to believe that the path would have 
left the St. Joseph at a point where this river approached 
nearest to the accessible waters of the Kankakee. There 
can be no doubt that the shortest distance between the 
two rivers would have been the route of the portage in 
ancient times, all things being equal; because those 
making the trip were compelled to cany their boats and 
luggage from river to river, and the saving of even a lew 
n ids under such circumstances would have been most 
desirable. To go up the river further than this point 
in (ierman township is to compel the traveller to conn- 
back on his course, in order to make the detour of the 
northeast end of the Kankakee marsh. This would be no 
objection in modern times, when wagons and horses 
were to be had and the boats and luggage could be 
hauled to any convenient spot on the Kankakee, as at 
Chess' Island or at Crum's Point. But in ancient times, 
having neither horses nor wagons, they would surely 
seek the shortest distance between the two rivers. This 
is a straight line leaving this westerly bend of the St. 
Joseph in German township and extending nearly due 
west across this Portage prairie to the little ponds that 



94 



lie at the head of Chain Lakes; and this distance is 
between 4| and 4 85-100 miles. 

Again, we may know that this spot on our river is 
the one where the portage began, because of its geo- 
graphical location. Following the meanderings of the 
river. South Bend is located about 70 miles from the 
mouth of the St. Joseph and about five miles above this 
bend in German township. Tonty, the friend and com- 
panion of LaSalle, states that LaSalle and party ascended 
the-St. Joseph 27 leagues. The Canadian league, which 
is the equivalent of the French Posting league, is 2.42 
miles (2.4221?)). Taking the Canadian league as the 
standard in use by LaSalle and party, the distance from 
tln j mouth of the river to this bend is, according to 
Tonty, 65* miles. Tonty's estimate of the distance thus 
conforms closely to the known distance from this bend 
to the mouth of the river. And here let it be stated 
that if we take the French league, 3.025 miles, which 
some have sought to maintain was the standard in use. 
it would make the distance of the portage 81| miles 
from the mouth of the river, or more than 16 miles 
farther up the river. To go 16 miles farther up the 
river, is to go far away from any prairie that could have 
been used and far away from any waters tributary to 
the Kankakee. (See letters herewith from Gen. John S. 
Clark, of Auburn, N. Y.) 

The foregoing facts satisfy us that the portage path 
left the St. Joseph river at this bend in German town- 
ship. But in what part of the bend did it leave the 
river? The very high and steep bluff rising from the 
water's edge throughout the curve of this bend makes 
us believe that the path must have left the river either 
on the north side, where there is an old time depression 
leading down from the direction of the open prairie at 
the place of the prairie's nearest approach to the St. 
Joseph: or, the path must have left the river on the 



south side of the bend, where Mr. Brookfield locates one 
of the earliest of the modern portages. Mr. Brookfield 
lived near this bend of the river from 1828 to 1831. That 
the portage path used by LaSalle left the river on the 
north side of this bend is determined by the following 
evidence : 

Mr. Parkman states in his work, " LaSalle and the Dis- 
covery of the Great West," (see note on page 154,) that 
Charlevoix has given a graphic account of this portage 
used by LaSalle and that the account is to be found in 
one of the letters in the Journal of Charlevoix's travels. 
In his Journal Charlevoix states that he came up from 
Fort St. Joseph, located where Niles now stands, that 
is, just above the river dam at Niles, a distance of about 
six: leagues, or 14^ miles. This corresponds to the 
known distance of this bend of the river from the site 
of old fort St. Joseph. Charlevoix states that he dis- 
embarked on the right and walked 5J leagues, "first 
following the edge of the water, then across the fields 
into a great prairie." Now, for more than a mile below 
this bend it was possible for Charlevoix to disembark 
and follow along the edge of the water as far as the place 
of landing on the north side of the bend. Had the place 
of landing been farther up the river, he could not have 
followed beyond the north point, because of the high 
and very precipitous bank coming to the water's edge 
along the line of the curve. He followed along the edge 
of the water so as to be near the boat because it was 
dangerous for one member to be separated from his 
party. He does not say that his men took the boat 
from the water, nor would they have carried the boat 
and luggage while they were able to advance on their 
way by continuing on the river. They could not advance 
on their way beyond this north point, nor could Charle- 
voix have followed them "at the edge of the water." 
had they gone further. It therefore seems inevitable 



that, both the pedestrian on shore and his men in the 
canoe must have come to the landing at the north point 
of the bend in the river and their journey on the St. 
Joseph terminated here. Had Charlevoix disembarked 
on the southern extremity of this bend in the river, he 
could have followed along the edge of the water only as 
he took a direction opposite to the prairie across which 
he desired to go and really did go. 

Again, Hennepin states that "this place," the land- 
ing, "is situated on the borders of a large field." The 
spot on the south side of this bend was not situated on 
the border of any kind of a field. The spot on the north 
side was so situated on the border of a large field. The 
testimony of those who saw the prairie in a state of 
nature, as well as the soil itself, affirms that the prairie 
extended down to and across the present Niles road as 
far as the beginning of the old time depression leading 
down to the landing on the north side of the bend; 
while no witness that we have ever been able to find, 
has affirmed that the prairie in any way approached the 
point on the south side of the bend, the fields surround- 
ing it being covered with heavy timber. Some of the 
witnesses who have testified concerning the old line of 
the prairie are Robert Cissne, Joshua D. Miller, Robert 
Myler and the late James R. Miller, and the soil itself 
confirms their testimony. 

Also, it seems reasonable that those who used the 
portage should have left the river at the point where 
they could find the most direct route to the accessible 
waters of the Kankakee. This spot is on the north side 
of the bend, as the map will show. 

We know of no reason why anyone should suppose 
that the ancient portage path left the river on the south 
side of the bend, except the fact that Mr. Brookfield so 
located the portage landing in use in his day. When 
horses were used, the portage might well have left the 

97 



river at the point where Mr. Brookfield's land came to 
the river and where he had laid out a town. To show 
that Mr. Brookfield's representations in the matter are 
not reliable, we wish to call attention to the fact that 
while Mr. Brookfield in his map of the locality locates 
the portage landing on the south side of the bend, he 
states in his field notes that the landing was at a point in 
the middle of the bend. But the latter is a spot where 
it could not have been under any circumstances, it would 
seem, because of the fact that the bank is fifty or sixty 
feet high at this point and very precipitous. 

Charlevoix states that he "went across the fields into 
a great prairie." The eastern rim of the prairie slopes 
to the east, and with its scattering trees may have been 
what Charlevoix calls "the fields." He went " into a 
great prairie:" not around the southern edge of it and 
barely entering the prairie on its lower margin. He 
states that he encamped in "an extremely beautiful 
place." While we cannot tell where he disembarked 
on the banks of the St. Joseph, since he for a time 
"walked along the edge of the water, " so that we do 
not know where to begin our measurements; yet the 
next day he went "a league farther into the prairie" 
to reach the very head waters of the Kankakee. So, if 
we measure east a Canadian league from the ponds at 
the head of Chain Lakes, we will be approximately at 
the place where he encamped. This spot is the high 
land to the north of the Ritter homestead, in Section 
29. The high ground in the vicinity of the Ritter and 
Jones homesteads, near the middle of the prairie from 
north to south, is one of the most beautiful spots in 
Northern Indiana, commanding a view in all directions 
that never fails to excite the admiration of the beholder. 
And we are not surprised that the poetical temperament 
of Charlevoix should have yielded itself unreservedly 
to the charms of this locality. Encamped, then, on the 



straight line joining the north point of the bend in the 
St. Joseph to the ponds at the head of Chain Lakes, and 
in the elevated locality to which we have just referred, 
he went a league farther into the prairie. To the west 
of the spot where he encamped the pathway is smooth 
and gradually sinks for a half mile, "a regular toboggan 
slide?" as one has said, and then maintains quite a 
uniform condition, skirting along the base of low hills 
lying on the south and terminates in a water hole, 
such as occurs occasionally in the prairie. Beyond this 
there is an ascent of fifteen to eighteen feet and then a 
level tract very gradually descending, until near the 
western extremity of the ancient prairie the line of the 
path emerges into the present route of the Michigan 
road. From this point to the second pond, as indicated 
on the map, the course is smooth and even. This second 
pond is to the south and a very little to the west of the 
Woolverton house. This family remembers the trail 
to have reached from this second pond to the point 
where the line of the portage, as we have indicated it, 
meets the Michigan road. Following the straight line 
of the portage path as outlined one observes, south of 
its western half, a continuous series of hills and dales 
heavily timbered and over which a boat could be carried 
only with the greatest difficulty. Some of the ponds are 
situated in an extensive tract of marsh, or what Hennepin 
•calls " much quaking earth. " The first pond lies in the 
woods to the south and could have been reached only 
by making a detour around the marsh. Its outlet 
runs north into the second pond. The second pond of 
the series was therefore the first one that the traveler 
would come to in the line of the path. Hence Charle- 
voix states that he "put his boat into the second pond. " 
He further states that the ponds were a hundred paces 
in circumference, the largest one. This would give a 
diameter of about one hundred feet. The contour of 



the bed of the first and the fourth ponds would seem to 
fit this description. The others are a marshy tract and 
their exact limits difficult to define, but are plainly 
within the space of three hundred paces. The outlet 
from the last pond has a very abrupt turn, less than a 
right angle. Here one might have broken a boat. The 
connection between the third and fourth ponds has 
apparently been deepened and straightened, whether 
by a modern or an ancient ditcher we are not able to 
affirm. 

LaSalle, himself, and the English governor of North 
Carolina, Daniel Coxe, both gave the length of the por- 
tage as two leagues, or 4.85 miles. Mr. William M. 
Whitten, the well known civil engineer of our city, 
states that the length of the portage path as herewith 
defined is very nearly 4.85 miles. 

The distance to the accessible waters of the Kankakee 
in any other part of its course, measuring from the south 
side of the bend in the St. Joseph referred to heretofore 
is in excess of five and one-half miles, and going by way 
of the southernmost part of the high land in the prairie, 
is nearly six miles. It is necessary to measure to some 
part of this high land in the prairie, because both Hen- 
nepin and Charlevoix speak of the journey across the 
prairie in unmistakable terms. But why should they 
have gone into the prairie at all, if they wished to go to 
any spot on Ihe Kankakee in the direction of Chess' 
Island? To go into the prairie and then turn at an 
angle, almost a right angle and go south, was to add 
greatly to the distance over which the boats and luggage 
must be carried. If they wished to go in the direction 
of Chess' Island, why did they not follow along the old 
trail known as the Crumstown road? The hypoth- 
enuse of a triangle is slorter than the sum of the other 
two sides. If they had desired to go in the direction of 
Chess' Island, they would not have gone into this prairie 

too 



at all. But we know from both Hennepin and Charle- 
voix that they did go into this prairie and that they 
went across it. Therefore, the conclusion seems to us 
unavoidable that they did not go to Chess' Island nor to 
any point in that direction. 

In this connection, we desire to call attention again to 
the fact that many hundreds of relics of the stone age, 
as well as those characteristic of the French trade, have 
been gathered in the fields bordering Chain Lakes. They 
are most abundant around the lower Chain Lake and in 
the field to the east of Charlevoix's ponds. But we have 
never heard of anyone finding such specimens at Chess' 
Island or in that vicinity. If the Miami town had 
extended in that direction, the evidences of their life 
there would now be at hand. 

Furthermore, it is plainly stated by Father Hennepin 
in his account of LaSalle's first trip, that there was a 
village of Miami and other Indians "at the extremity" 
of the prairie on the west side and that the Illinois, or 
Kankakee, had its source in that place. Since Henne- 
pin thus plainly states that the Kankakee end of the 
portage, to which they had gone, was situated on the 
west side of the prairie, why should any one look for it 
at Chess' Island, far to the south of the prairie? To do 
so is to take issue with Father Hennepin. 

It has been supposed that only the half of this portage 
path was in the prairie. But it seems evident that all of 
it, or very nearly all, was in the prairie land. The part 
to the west of the Ritter and Jones homesteads, and 
lying in Sections 30 of German and 25 of Warren town- 
ships, are within the regions which the first survey of 
the Michigan road shows to have been the original 
western extension of the prairie, the field notes of that 
survey stating plainly that the tracts along this line 
were very thinly wooded. And the soil shows that the 
greater portion of the tract along this western section 

101 



of the portage path must have been at one time an open 
prairie. The surface of the level and higher ground 
along the line of the path is covered with the dark, deep 
and heavy soil so characteristic of the prairie. Mr. 
William M. Whitten, referred to, states that he is 
convinced from the government survey maps and field 
notes that the western portion of this portage path must 
have been through a western extension of the prairie, 
dotted with clumps of trees here and there like the 
eastern parts of the prairie. Thus, it seems clear that 
the Miami town situated on the very head waters of the 
Kankakee, was also situated at the "extremity" of this 
prairie "on the west side," as Hennepin has told us; and 
that this great Indian town extended to the east as far 
as the high land in the middle of the prairie. 

The first survey of the Michigan road laid out the 
course of that highway along the line of this ancient 
portage path, beginning at the edge of the TYoolverton 
marsh and keeping to the path until very near the point 
of the latter's intersection with the present Niles road 
and then following that road to South Bend. This is 
significant, because it was customary in the early days, 
when a new road was surveyed, to make use of existing 
highways, whenever possible. Later, it was found con- 
venient to cut off this angle in the Michigan road by 
using the line as now established. 

On his map of the county published in 1863, the late 
Mr. M. W. Stokes has shown these ponds and the con- 
tiguous marsh as a lake, to which he gives the name of 
Beaver lake. The drainage of the surrounding territory 
sometimes fills the basin of this marsh with a shallow 
lake during the early spring. But when these waters 
have subsided, there still remains the little ponds on the 
south side supplied by perennial springs under the 
adjacent hills. The place was well called Beaver lake, 
for here were the perfect conditions of the beaver's 

102 



home. LaHontan, a French traveler of the LaSalle 
period, shows in his map that there was a large beaver 
town in the spot where the Kankakee took its rise. See 
Winsor's "Cartier to Frontenac." 

The usual condition of the loose, saturated soil of the 
marsh to the west of South Bend has been such for ages 
that no ordinary boat could be forced through the stag- 
nant pools of mud, the rank growths of reeds and tufted 
grasses. Much less could any passage be found for the 
frail bark canoe; for, it must be remembered that a 
birch bark canoe, such as was in general use here in 
ancient times, could not safely be pushed or pulled 
through a marshy bog, unless such canoe, be entirely 
relieved of any contents, and even then, this rough 
treatment would be hazardous. A boat made of solid 
timber submits to such usage without serious hurt, 
but a loaded birch bark canoe will spring aleak where 
the water is not deep enough to keep it afloat. These 
conditions of themselves will explain why the Indians 
and the early explorers carried their canoes across the 
prairie and made no attempt to force a passage to the 
Kankakee through the marsh to the south of the prairie. 
Stanfield lake lying immediately west of South Bend, 
in Section 9, Portage township, is sometimes spoken of 
as the Kankakee end of the portage by those who do not 
understand that its waters are tributary to the St. Joseph. 
That this lake never has been the source of the Kanka- 
kee, is shown by the fact that its waters cannot be made 
to flow in the direction of that stream, although exten- 
sive ditching has been done for that purpose. This is 
because the watershed lies to the south of that lake. 
The elevation thus separating the drainage is indeed so 
low that it is not apparent to the eye; nevertheless, it 
it is very effective. The local conditions are curiously 
illustrated in one of the ditches crossing the watershed 
from north to south. This ditch receives a tributary at 

103 



the very dividing line of the watershed, and the result 
is that the waters discharged by this tributary divide 
at its mouth, part flowing north for the Great Lakes and 
part south for the Mississippi. He who witnesses the 
gentle adieu at the parting of this tiny tide, will yield a 
moment's thought to the distant and diverse fates in 
store for the divided current. 

In the spring of the year, the freshets might occasion- 
ally have covered the upper Kankakee marsh with water, 
and it seems not at all improbable that under such con- 
ditions the portage might sometimes have been made 
by way of the Brookfield landing and a point on the 
marsh very near the Kaley farm, in Section 3, Portage 
township. Such a portage would have been less than 
two miles long. And they might have found a still 
shorter cut to this same spot on the marsh, by going up 
the St. Joseph a little farther. But such a portage 
could have been used only when the water covered the 
entire marsh or continuous portions of it reaching to the 
channel of the Kankakee river. Yet, such conditions 
would seldom be found and would then last but for a 
day. It seems, however, that LaSalle refers to some- 
thing like this short portage by saying that it is "two 
leagues long when the waters are low," implying that 
the portage may be shorter when the waters are high, 
as during the spring freshets. 

Therefore, in view of the facts as set forth, we con- 
clude that the portage path from the St. Joseph to the 
Kankakee, used in ancient times by the Indians and by 
LaSalle and later by the French inhabitants, was a 
straight line from the north side of the most westerly 
bend of the St. Joseph in German township and extend- 
ing to the little ponds in Section 25, Warren township, 
ponds still to be seen on the south margin of the marsh 
land of the Woolverton estate and which are located 
just north of Chain Lakes and are connected therewith. 



Much interest attaches to the two red cedars of gigantic 
size standing one at either extremity of the bend in the 
St. Joseph from which the portage path sets out. They 
are of great age and have witnessed much more than 
the historic events that have made the locality famous. 
The one on the north side is now only a stump, but that 
at the south point still flourishes in lusty vigor. The 
attempt has been made to show that the cedar at the 
south point exhibits one of the crosses made by Father 
Ribourde for LaSalle's guidance, and that such a mark 
would consequently locate the portage landing in its 
vicinity. 

The tree selected for blazing in ancient times, as well 
as in our own, has naturally been one with a trunk free 
from limbs or foliage that might obstruct the view, such 
a tree as the oak. walnut, ash or cherry; that is, where 
these trees could be found, and they were always numer- 
ous here. It is true, the lower limbs of this cedar have 
been removed; but this removal took place within the 
life time of the present generation, as may be seen from 
the condition of their stumps. So far as the evidence 
goes, this tree was not only of a kind such as would be 
least apt to receive a blaze mark, but its trunk was 
practically invisible in LaSalle's day. 

Then, again, while the trunk of this cedar has been 
hacked by many a careless axe, yet none of these offenses 
against its noble dignity, resembles in any way a cross, 
nor even an Iroquois bark peeling, nor yet a modern 
surveyor's blazing. 

And as for the age of these wounds, not one of them 
is older than people still living, as may be demonstrated 
by the layers of woody growth at the margin of the 
wounds, where any growth at all is to be found. The 
only one of these indiscriminate hacks thought to have 
any significance is found by digging in the sands washed 
around the tree from the bank and is located at the base 

105 



of the trunk. Nor does this particular mark differ in 
character from the others; for, it in no way looks like a 
cross or blaze of any kind and it is of recent origin, as 
shown by the condition of the exposed wood and the 
Iatter's nearness to the present surface of the tree. 

Furthermore, this scar at the base of the tree is located 
on the side of the tree turned toward the very high and 
precipitous bank, whose protecting shade has made 
possible this gigantic cedar. The tree grew originally 
from the side of the bank, but a few years ago, the latter 
washed out near by and the sand has filled in around 
the tree and between it and the old bank. Beneath this 
filling and between it and the bank and at the base of 
the trunk is this scar. It could never have been seen 
by any one at the top of the bank, nor by any one passing 
between the tree and the water, nor could it have been 
seen at all, unless some one should take the pains to 
pick his uncomfortable way between the tree and the 
steeply sloping bank. Had one of Father Ribourde's 
crosses been hidden away in such a place, it must surely 
have escaped even the quick eye of LaSalle. 
* * * 

Near the south terminus of this historic bend in our 
river, is a ford similar to the one on the north side. This 
spot also is a place of interest, for here one of the great 
Indian trails crossed the river. The trail comes to the 
river flats through the old time defile a few rods to the 
east. Starting at the ford, the path is still easy to follow 
as far as the point where it intersects with the Niles 
road near the residence of Mr. James Ray. It is easily 
followed through the Jackson woods, on the opposite 
side of the road, and traces of it occur on several farms 
to the south. It comes to the Michigan road at the east 
side of the Kaley farm and then skirts the south side of 
the hill so conspicuous on that estate. Thereafter, its 
course is indicated by openings in the occasional timber 

106 



tracts as far as Crum's Point and on through LaPorte 
county. This trail parallels the Kankakee river and is 
the one over which thePottawattomiesof the Kankakee 
and the Illinois country, and many others as well, came 
to old Fort St. Joseph. After crossing our river at this 
ford, the trail forked, one arm constituting the well 
known path following the east side of the river to old 
Fort St. Joseph, and the other finally taking the line of 
the present Edwardsburg road. At Edwardsburg, this 
old highway struck the famous Sauk trail to Detroit 
and Maiden, Canada. The present Edwardsburg road 
on the east and the Crumstown road- on the west mark 
the line of this trail. And the meanders of the present 
road in each case well define the crooks in the ancient 
path. But the white man's road is the trail itself only 
in places. The Indian's path was always in the low 
ground and the defiles between the hills, when such 
places of concealment were within convenient reach. 
The very route of his path tells the story of fear and 
danger. The white man's wagon followed the direction 
of the trail but found that the path itself afforded a less 
agreeable passage than the rising ground near by. 
When the present Crumstown and Edwardsburg roads 
were first used, the adjacent woods were still open, the 
recent fires of the Indian having kept down the under- 
growth. Hence a roadway at that time could be broken 
on the higher ground almost at will, and the preference 
then was to keep near the trail but not in it. So if one 
would find moccasin footprints, he must look through 
the native forest, first on this side of the road and then 
on that. Just to the south of Chamberlain's lake, in 
Warren township, and not far from the Chamberlain 
house, is one of these open defiles through the native 
forest, a fragment of this ancient path. One can scarcely 
convince himself that sixty years have passed since its 



107 



use forever ceased, so clearly defined is its course and 
so free from vegetation of the larger growth. 

This Crumstown trail and road are dwelt upon here, 
because such has been supposed by many to have been 
the route of the ancient portage. That it was a promi- 
nent route of the portage in modern times there can be 
no doubt, for many are still living who have seen the 
boats hauled along this line. The boats were sometimes 
put into the Kankakee at, or near, Chess' Island, and 
sometimes were taken as far as Crum's Point where the 
road crosses the Grapevine. Such was Brookfield's 
portage. But this could not have been the ancient por- 
tage path, since it does not enter the prairie, but lies deep 
in the woodland throughout its entire length. After 
Brookfield's time, the St. Joseph end of the portage was 
moved still farther up the river and sometimes left the 
St. Joseph at places now in the very heart of South 
Bend. The use of horses and wagons made this increased 
length of the portage a matter of little consequence. 



108 




Designed and drawn lor this work by Arthur Thomas, N. Y. 
THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE. 



GENERAL JOHN S. CLARK'S LETTERS. 

"Auburn, N. Y., Dec. 11, 1895. 
"Dear Sir: — 

Your note of the 9th inst. received. Your 

question is somewhat difficult to answer. Several differ- 
ent standards were in use among the French : The 
lime deposte, equal to 2.42 miles; the liene moyenne, equal 
to 2.70 miles; and the liene geographique, 3.33 English 
miles. I have made it a practice for several years to 
estimate the leagues of LaSalle and Champlain as of 2£ 
miles, with most excellent results, while the estimate of 
3 English miles invariably leads astray. I am unable to 
give any reliable information as to the French fathom. 
In a correspondence with the Superintendent of the 
Coast Survey several years since, in relation to LaSalle 's 
operations in the vicinity of Pass Carullo, Texas, in 
which the question of the depths of the several bays 
was involved, the question was not raised of a difference 
between the French and English fathom. I made the 
point that the depths of Espiritu Santo Bay, as given by 
LaSalle, corresponded substantially with the depths as 
given on the coast survey maps. I am quite sure that 
if any material difference existed between the two stand- 
ards, it would have manifested itself in that corres- 
pondence. I was not aware that any question could be 
raised as to the portage between the St. Joseph and 
Kankakee. The accounts of Hennepin and LaSalle 
appear to be very clear and definite on that point. 
"Very respectfully, 

"Your obt. servant, 
"Mr. Chas. F. Rartlett, "John S. Clark." 

"South Bend, Ind " 

109 



"Auburn, N. Y., Dec. 20, 1895. 
"Dear Sir: — 

Yours of the 14th received. I find by refer- 
ence to several old French maps that I have, notably 
those of D'Anville, that several different leagues are 
described, French, Spanish, etc., from which I select 
the following: — 

French League, 3,000 paces, 2,500 Toises, 20 to a degree. 
League Marine, .... 2,850 " 20 to a degree. 
League Commune, . . . 2,000 " League du Post 
League Canadian, . . . 2,000 " 
League in hours on the road, 1,500 " 

"The French Toise or Fathom was 76.735 English 
inches, consequently the league common or League du 
Post was equal to 2.42219 English miles, and this was 
undoubtedly the league in common use and designated 
as the League Canadian. 

"The present English standards of measure were estab- 
lished in the year 1439 and were: 1 English mile equals 
826 Toises, 1760 yards, 5280 feet, consequently the Toise 
English or fathom was 77.707 English inches, a small frac- 
tion of an inch less than the French Toise; and this was 
the relative standard two hundred years ago. Previous 
to 1439, the English standards were as follows: — 



English foot 


equal to 


13.22 


in 


ches. 


yard 


" 


39.66 




" 


" fathom 


" 


79.32 




" 


'• chain 


" 


793.20 




" 


" furlong 


" 


7932.00 




" 


" mile 


" 


79320.00 


m 


or 6,610 ft 



"The common League of France was never 2,400 fath- 
oms, Bougainville to the contrary notwithstanding. 

"Very respectfully, 
"Mr. Chas. H. Bartlett, "John S. Clark." 

"South Bend, Ind." 

110 



TONTY S LETTER. 

Decouvertes et etablissements des Fran9ais dans 
l'Ouest et dans le sucl de l'Amerique Septentrionale 
(1614-1754). — Memoires publies par Pierre Margry. — 
I. 581. 

Relation written from Quebec, Nov. 14, 1084, by 
Henri de Tonty.— [First trip, 1679.] 

. . . "He (LaSalle) sent me the order to turn back, 
and December 6 we took the route of the Illinois after 
having ascended the river of the Miamis about twenty- 
seven leagues [65^- miles], and having nobody who could 
guide us to find a portage which goes to the river of the 
Illinois. M. de LaSalle walked by land with the inten- 
tion of finding me. Night came upon us and we took 
shelter; but M. de LaSalle, being entangled between a 
swamp and firm ground, was obliged to make the tour. 
Having seen a fire, he went to it, hoping to find some 
savages and get shelter with them. He cried out like a 
savage, but finding that no one answered him, he entered 
the brushwood where the aforesaid fire was. He found 
nobody, and it was surely the hut of a warrior who had 
been afraid of him. He lay down there with two fire- 
brands before him. Although it was very cold and even 
snowed, he joined me the next day. There arrived also 
a savage hunter of LaSalle 's, who told us that the peo- 
ple whom I had left hunting were waiting for us at the 
portage, which was two leagues [4.85 miles] below us. 
The portage found and our people reassembled, that 
caused us great joy." 



LA SALLE S LETTER. 

Lettres de Cavalier de LaSalle et correspondence 
relative a ses entreprises. — (In Margry's Decouvertes, 
etc., I. 125, 127.) [Second visit.] 

Relation of the voyage of LaSalle from the 22d Aug., 
1GS0, to the autumn of 1GS1. 

"They stopped me, nevertheless, at Missillimakinak, 
for lack of provisions, and having secured some by 
means of brandy, I left there October 4. Winds and rain 
were so frequent that we could not reach the river of 
the Miamis until November 4 

"Having ascended the river of the Miamis, we arrived 
at their village the 15th. There was nobody there. We 
went up a little higher, to the portage by which one 
goes to that of the Illinois, where we found their camp, 
whence they had gone eight or ten days before to follow 
the remainder of the Illinois, of whose defeat by the Iro- 
quois they had learned. The 17th, having made the 
portage, which is two leagues [4.85 miles] long when 
the waters are low, we arrived the 23d, by descending 
the river of Teakiki, at a place called la Fourche des 
Iroquois (the Fork of the Iroquois)." .... 



112 



HENNEPIN S LETTER. 

Nouvelle Decouverte d'un Pays plus grands que 
T Europe situe dans l'Amerique.— [By Louis Hennepin.] 

Chapter XX. Embarkation at the Fort of the Miamis 
to go to the river of the Illinois. [First trip, 1679.] 

"We embarked the third of December in eight boats, in 
number thirty men and three Recollet missionaries. We 
left the lake of the Illinois and went up the river of the 
Miamis, which we had already visited. We took our route 
to the southeast for about twenty-five leagues [6(H miles] , 
and could not discover the portage which we ought to 
make with our boats and all the equipage to go and 

embark at the source of the river of the Illinois 

"We had then gone up with our boats too far into this 
river of the Miamis without discovering the place where 
we ought to go by land to take the source of this river 
which flows to the Illinois 

"The next day I put myself with two of our men into 
a light boat to make more speed in searching for it by 
reascending the river; but we did not find it 

"Our savage had remained behind to hunt. Not find- 
ing us at the portage, which we had passed, he went up 
higher and came to tell us we must descend the river. . . 

"The next day we joined our people at the portage, 
where Father Gabriel had made several crosses on the 
trees to make us recognize it more readily 

"This place is situated on the border of a large field, 
at the extremity of which, on the west side, there is a 
village of Miamis, Mascouteins and Oiatinons gathered 
together. The river of the Illinois has its source in this 
place in a field in the midst of much shaking earth, on 
which one can scarcely walk. The source of this river is 
only a league and a half [3.G3£ miles] from that of the 
Miamis; so we transported all our equipage with our 
boats by a road that we made for the accommodation of 
those who should come afler us." 

113 



DANIEL COXE'S LETTER. 

A Description of the English Province of Carolana, 
etc., by Daniel Coxe. (In French's Historical Collec- 
tions of Louisiana.) 

.... "Near the bottom of the bay, on the east side, is 
the fair river of the Miamihas (so called because upon it 
lives part of a nation bearing the same name), which in 
its passage comes within two leagues of the great east- 
erly branch of the river of the Allinouecks, and its 
springs are very near the heads of some rivers which 
enter the Ouabachi. " 



Charlevoix's letter. 

Journal d'un Voyage dans l'Amerique Septentrio- 
nale; Addresse a Madame la Duchesse de Lesdiguieres. 
Par C. P. de Charlevoix.— Tom. VI., pp. 103-105. 
Twenty-sixth Letter. 

"On the source of the Theakiki, 

the 17th of September, 1721. 
"Madam: — 

I did not expect to take my pen again so soon 
to write to you; but my guides have just broken their 
boat, and here I am, delayed for a whole day in a place 
where I find nothing to excite the curiosity of a traveler; 
so I have nothing better to do than to yield myself to the 
pleasure of talking with you. 

"I believe I made you understand in my last that I had 
two routes to choose between for reaching the Illinois: 
the first was to return to Lake Michigan, to follow along 
its southern coast and to enter the little river of Chica- 
gou. After having ascended it five or six leagues, one 
passes into that of the Illinois by means of two portages, 
the longer of which is only five quarter leagues [3 miles] ; 
but as this river is, however, only a brook at this place, 
I was warned that at this season I should not find in it 
enough water for my boat; therefore, I took the other 

114 



route, which, indeed, has also its inconveniences, and is 
not nearly as agreeable; but it is surer. 

'•I left yesterday the Fort of St. Joseph river, and I 
ascended this river about six leagues [1-H miles]. I dis- 
embarked on the right, walked five quarter leagues [3 
miles], first following the edge of the water, then across 
the fields into a great prairie all sprinkled with little 
tufts of woodland, which have a very beautiful effect; it 
is called la Prairie de la Ttte tie Bwvf(0\ Head's Prairie), 
because there was found there, so they say, an ox's head 
which was monstrous in size. Why may there not have 
been giants among these animals also? I encamped in 
an extremely beautiful place called U Fort chs llenarils 
(Foxes Fort), because the Foxes, the Outagamis, had 
there, not long ago, a village fortified in their way. 

"This morning I went a league [2.42 miles] farther 
into the prairie, my feet almost constantly in water, then 
I found a sort of pond, which communicates with sev- 
eral others of different sizes, the largest of which is only 
a hundred paces in circuit. These are the sources of a 
river called the Theakiki, which by corruption our Can- 
adians name Kiakiki. Theak means a wolf, I no longer 
recall in what language, but this river bears that name 
because the Mahingans, who are also called the Wolves, 
formerly took refuge there. 

"We put our boat, which two men had carried up to 
this point, into the second of these sources, and we 
embarked; but we had scarcely enough water to keep 
afloat. Ten men would make in two days a straight 
and navigable canal, which would save much trouble, 
and ten or twelve leagues of road; for the river at its 
issue from its source is so narrow, and it is necessary 
continually to turn so sharply, that at each instant one 
is in danger of breaking his boat, as has just happened 
to us." 



MARQUETTE'S LAST JOURNEY. 

It has been disputed that LaSalle was the first of the 
discoverers to visit the St. Joseph-Kankakee portage. 
The honor has been claimed for Marquette, solely on the 
ground that the historian Shea states that Marquette on 
his last journey, "■seems to have taken the way by the St. 
Joseph river. " But Dr. Shea does not give any authority 
for his supposition, nor could he supply such evidence. 

Mr. R. Ci. Thwaites, of the State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin, translator and editor of the "Jesuit Rela- 
tions," now being issued in thirty or more volumes, says, 
in a letter to the writer April 26th, 1897, "Marquette, 
upon his last journey, undoubtedly returned north by 
way of the Illinois-Chicago portage." 

Mr. Thwaites is the highest authority in the world on 
all historical matters pertaining to the early Jesuit mis- 
sionaries. We are not surprised that he should declare 
himself as above, for Father Dablon, in his "Relation," 
on the death of Marquette, referring to the latter's 
return journey, says that "he was obliged to take the 
southern side of the lake, having gone thither by the 
northern." And Charlevoix's Journal, in the descrip- 
tion of the spot where Marquette died, declares that he 
came to the place "from Chicagou." Father Allouez 
has told us that the Illinois Indians helped Marquette to 
reach the lake; and if, as Charlevoix states, he came to 
the lake at Chicago, we may rest assured that they did 
not take him back again over the Chicago portage and 
down the Desplaines to the mouth of the Kankakee, from 
which they had just brought him. Having once reached 
the stream and place called Chicago, it is all but impos- 
sible that a sick man in his condition should have turned 
back over his course to come around by these unknown 
rivers, the Kankakee and the St. Joseph. As Charlevoix 
has stated, he started on his last journey "from Chi- 
cagou," and proceeded, as Dablon has told us, "by the 
southern side of the lake." 

116 



THE PORTAGE ON THE MAP. 

If one will measure the distance from point B on the 
map herewith U> any point at the south or the east mar- 
gin of Chess' Island, and will then lay off an equal dis- 
tance due west, he will observe that the distance to 
Chess' Island exceeds that to the head of Chain Lakes 
by more than a mile. And if the same person will turn 
to the map on page 20 of Mr. George A. Baker's pam- 
phlet on the St. Joseph-Kankakee portage, and will 
measure from the angle in Charlevoix's path to the land- 
ing place on the Kankakee as indicated by Mr. Baker, and 
will then lay oif an equal distance in the direction of 
Chain Lakes, this distance will be found to reach far 
beyond the lakes themselves. Mr. Baker's map itself 
thus makes it plain that the distance to the Charlevoix 
ponds at the head of Chain Lakes is truly the shortest dis- 
tance between the St. Joseph and the accessible waters 
of the Kankakee. When men carried boats on their 
shoulders, they sought the shortest distance. When 
they could avail themselves of horses and wagons, they 
would not hesitate to follow the line of any of the mod- 
ern portages of which the early settlers so often speak. 

In this same map, in order to cut down this excess of 
distance, Mr. Baker ignores Parkman's statement that 
Charlevoix has described LaSalle's path, and boldly 
defines the latter as one entirely separate and distinct. 
As will be seen, he allows LaSalle to take advantage of 
the hypothenuse of the triangle. But here another dif- 
ficulty is encountered, for this hypothenuse lies through 
the midst of the forest all the way, and much of this 
forest is still standing, notably the Jackson woods. But 
we know that LaSalle did not go into the woods. The 
fact is plainly shown in the letters herewith that both 
Charlevoix and LaSalle's party went into and across 
the prairie and found the Kankakee waters on the icest 
side. 

117 



EXPLANATION OF MAP. 

A — The landing at the St. Joseph end of portage path. 

B — Probable site of the Miami Treaty. 

C — Spot marked by Mr. Hrookfield, where section line 

crossed an old road. The road was the old Crums- 

town trail. 
D — Location of five mounds. 
E — One of the spots where remains of signal fires are 

abundant. 

The Dragoon Trace is the road over which the soldiers 
at Fort Wayne were accustomed to pass in their jour- 
neys to Chicago during the early part of this century. 
The strip of it shown on the map may have been approx- 
imately the route taken by LaSalle when he was com- 
pelled "to make the detour " of the marsh in order that 
he might come again to the St. Jtfseph. 



118 




T. :JS"N. 



AUG 19 1*99 



